Prince Harry awarded £140,600 in phone hacking claim against Mirror Group

Britain’s Prince Harry has been granted £140,600 ($154,146) as damages after winning a phone hacking case against a tabloid newspaper publisher at the High Court. Justice Fancourt, who presided over the trial, delivered the ruling, stating that there was “extensive” phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) from 2006 to 2011, even during the Leveson Inquiry into media standards.

The judge also determined that the duke’s phone was likely hacked “to a modest extent” by the publisher. Prince Harry, 39, filed the lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers, alleging that journalists from its titles, the Daily and Sunday Mirror, and Sunday People, were involved in phone hacking, “blagging” (gaining information by deception), and the use of private investigators for unlawful activities.

The case was heard alongside similar claims by actor Michael Turner (Michael Le Vell), actress Nikki Sanderson, and Fiona Wightman, the ex-wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse. The allegations covered unlawful activities at MGN’s titles from as early as 1991 to at least 2011.

The high-profile trial concluded in June after seven weeks of evidence from numerous witnesses, including former journalists, editors, private investigators, and MGN executives. Prince Harry, along with other claimants, faced rigorous questioning during the trial, which garnered global media attention.

MGN contested the claims, denying that newspaper articles resulted from phone hacking and asserting that the majority did not involve any other unlawful activity. While the publisher made some admissions of unlawful activity, they apologized and accepted damages for Prince Harry, Nikki Sanderson, and Fiona Wightman. However, MGN denied most of their claims and rejected Michael Turner’s entire case.

(dpa/NAN)