Prince Harry has proven victorious in his phone hacking lawsuit against British tabloid publisher Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), the publishers of The Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, and The People.
The high court ruled on December 15 that the Duke of Sussex was able to conclusively prove he was the victim of unlawful information gathering by MGN journalists over a period of 15 years.
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Judge Timothy Fancourt ordered MGN to pay Prince Harry £140,600 ($179,792) in damages.
The court agreed with the prince’s legal team in that it provided more than 140 articles as evidence of which 33 were considered by the court.
Of those 33 articles, 15 submitted to the court came from illegal phone hacking or other unlawful methods of information gathering.
In the aftermath of the judgment, Prince Harry’s legal counsel, David Sherborne, conveyed a statement from the royal, expressing satisfaction with the ruling.
The prince emphasized the significance of the court’s decision, stating, “Today is a great day for truth as well as accountability.”
He thanked his legal team and condemned the MGN bosses, reaffirming his commitment to legally pursuing media outlets where unlawful techniques have been used against him, stating it was needed to ensure “a free and honest press.”
Mirror Group Newspapers, now owned by publishing conglomerate Reach Plc, issued an apology, taking full responsibility for historical wrongdoing.
The organization anticipates settling as much as £64 million collectively in compensation to victims of historic unlawful information-gathering techniques.