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The publisher of the British tabloid Daily Mirror has acknowledged and apologized for the unlawful collection of information about Prince Harry in its reporting, and said it requires compensation, at the beginning of first attempt to hack the prince’s phone Wednesday.
The claim was made in court filings outlining the defense of Mirror Group Newspapers.
The group continues to deny that it hacked phones to intercept voicemail messages, and says Harry and three lesser-known celebrities brought their claims past the time limit. .
But it admitted there was “some evidence of instructions to third parties to engage in other types of UIG (unlawful information gathering) about each of the claimants,” which included the Duke of Sussex. It says it “guarantees compensation” but doesn’t say what form that might take.
“MGN has unreservedly apologized for all UIG charges, and has assured claimants that such conduct will not be repeated,” the court papers state.
The publisher said the request was not a tactical move to reduce damages but was done “because such behavior should never happen.”
The trial was Harry’s opening salvo in his legal battle against the British press. Harry and other celebrities are suing the former publisher of the Daily Mirror for the alleged invasion of privacy.
The case is the first of three cases involving the hacking of the duke’s phone and threatens to do something he says his family has long feared: put a royal on the witness stand to discuss the scandals. revelation.
The activities in question go back more than two decades, when journalists and private eyes intercepted voicemails to track down members of the royal family, politicians, athletes, celebrities and even victim of crime. A scandal erupted when the hacking was revealed.
It’s Harry is expected to testify in person in June, said his lawyer. This is not his first time in the High Court, following his surprise appearance last month to observe most of the four-day hearing in one of his other cases.
He did not appear for opening statements in the trial. Harry went through London for Saturday coronation of his fatherKing Charles III, then left immediately after the ceremony to fly back to California to be with his family for his son’s birthday.
The prince has waged a war of words against British newspapers over legal claims and in his best-selling memoir “Spare,” vowed to make it his life’s mission to change the media he blamed for the death of his mother, Princess Diana. He died in a car wreck in Paris in 1997 while trying to avoid the paparazzi.
Harry also sued the publishers of the Daily Mail and The Sun over the phone-hacking scandal that metastasized after a year-long inquiry into press ethics in 2011 revealed that employees of the now-defunct News of the World tabloid eavesdrops on mobile phone voicemails.
Harry outlined his grievances against the media in court papers, saying the press had hounded him since his early days and created a narrative portraying him as “the ‘thicko ,’ the ‘cheat,’ the ‘underage drinker.’” His relationships with girlfriends were destroyed by “the entire tabloid press as a third party.”
“Looking back on it now, such behavior on their part was absolutely vile,” he said in a witness statement in the same case.
His charges could strain family ties that have been strained since Harry and his wife, Meghan, left royal life in 2020 and moved to the United States after complaining about racist attitudes from the British press.
Mirror Group Newspapers and other publishers initially defended themselves by saying that Harry had failed to bring his cases within a six-year time limit. The duke’s lawyer argued that an exception should apply because the publishers actively cover up skullduggery.
In a surprising revelation last month that uncovered a shameful chapter in his father’s life, Harry blamed his delay in bringing charges, in part, on his family.
He insisted he was barred from bringing a lawsuit against The Sun and other newspapers owned by media magnate Rupert Murdoch because of a “secret agreement” – allegedly approved by Queen Elizabeth II – that called for for reaching a private settlement and apology.
“The reason for this is to avoid a situation where a member of the royal family has to sit in the witness box and relate specific details of private and highly sensitive voicemails that have been intercepted,” it said. Harry in a witness statement against News Group Newspapers.
“The institution is extremely nervous about this and wants to avoid at all costs the kind of reputational damage it suffered in 1993,” he said, referring to a transcript of a leaked recording – published by the Sunday Mirror – of an intimate conversation. his father, who was then the Prince of Wales, with his lover, now Queen Camilla, where he compared himself to a tampon.
Harry said his brother, Prince William, quietly settled his own claims of hacking News Group for a “huge amount of money” in 2020. He also admitted being ordered by his father the palace staff ordered him to drop his litigation because it was not good for the family.
Murdoch’s company denied there was a “secret agreement” and would not comment on the alleged settlement. The palace did not respond to requests for comment.
Harry alleged that reporters from the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People used illegal methods to gather material from his family and friends in almost 150 articles. The newspaper said he was wrong about how its reporters obtained information, saying they used legal methods for many articles.
In 2015, The Mirror’s publishers published a front-page apology for phone hacking and tripled its funding to 12 million pounds ($15 million) to compensate victims.
Mirror Group said more than 600 of the 830 claims had been settled. Of the remaining 104 cases, 86 were brought too late to be tried, court papers said.
“Where historical wrongdoing has occurred, we accept, accept full responsibility and apologize unreservedly,” a spokesman for Mirror Group Newspapers said before the trial. “But we will vigorously defend against allegations of wrongdoing where our journalists have acted legally.”
The charges have been brought together as a trial case that could determine the outcome of hacking claims also made against the Mirror Group by former Girls Aloud member Cheryl, the late singer’s estate. George Michael, and former soccer player Ian Wright.
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