LONDON – Britain’s Prince Harry was awarded £140,600 (S$239,000) after London’s High Court ruled on Dec 15 that he had been a victim of “modest” phone-hacking and other unlawful information gathering by journalists of British newspapers.
Prince Harry, the younger son of King Charles III, said in a statement read outside court by his lawyer that the ruling was “vindicating and affirming”.
“I’ve been told that slaying dragons will get you burned,” he added.
“But in light of today’s victory and the importance of doing what is needed for a free and honest press, it’s a worthwhile price to pay. The mission continues.”
Prince Harry – who became the first senior British royal in 130 years to give evidence in court when he appeared as the star witness at the trial in June – sued the Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People.
He accused the publisher of “industrial scale” phone-hacking during an emotional testimony in which he relived upsetting episodes of his life.
MGN, owned by Reach, argued that the accusations were not supported by the evidence.
“We welcome today’s judgment that gives the business the necessary clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago,” an MGN spokesperson said.
“Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologise unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation.”
Prince Harry and about 100 other claimants – including actors, sports stars, celebrities and people who simply had a connection to high-profile figures – have taken legal action over allegations of phone-hacking and unlawful information gathering between 1991 and 2011.
Prince Harry said he was targeted by MGN for 15 years from 1996, and that more than 140 stories that appeared in its papers were the result of unlawful information gathering, though the trial only considered 33 of these.
“I found that 15 out of the 33 articles that were tried were the product of phone hacking of his mobile phone or the mobile phones of his associates, or the product of other unlawful information gathering,” Judge Timothy Fancourt said.
“I consider that his phone was only hacked to a modest extent, and that this was probably carefully controlled by certain people at each newspaper.”
Judge Fancourt concluded there had been widespread hacking and unlawful activities at the paper, of which senior executives were aware, although nearly all those on the board of the company had not been told.
Prince Harry has long had a turbulent relationship with the press and holds the media responsible for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a 1997 Paris car crash while being pursued by paparazzi.
Allegations that tabloid journalists hacked into celebrities’ phones first emerged two decades ago and prompted the Leveson Inquiry into press conduct.
It found that British newspapers had “wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people” and led to the closure of Britain’s top-selling newspaper, the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World, in 2011.
Prince Harry quit the royal family for a life in California with his American wife Meghan Markle and now has a difficult relationship with his father and his brother, Prince William. REUTERS, AFP
