(London) Prince Harry on Friday obtained the conviction of the publisher of the British tabloid Daily Mirror for articles stemming from the hacking of telephone messages, his first major victory in the war he has waged against the tabloid press.
Through his lawyer David Sherborne, the youngest son of King Charles III welcomed a judgment which gives him “reason” and “confidence”. “The mission continues,” he added.
Friday’s ruling is the first in a series of legal proceedings brought by the 39-year-old prince against the British press, who personally traveled to court to testify in the case.
He ordered the Mirror’s publishing company to pay him 140,600 pounds sterling ($240,000) in damages.
The judge found that 15 of the 33 disputed articles retained in the proceedings – published between 1996 and 2009 – came from hacking into the voicemail boxes of the Duke of Sussex or his entourage as well as other illicit processes.
He estimated that Prince Harry’s cell phone messaging had been hacked “to a modest extent.”
The magistrate further highlighted Prince Harry’s “tendency” to believe that “everything published was the product of voicemail interceptions”, as this practice “prevailed within the Mirror Group at the time”. But this practice was “not the only journalistic tool at the time and claims in relation to the other 18 articles do not stand up to careful analysis.”
The magistrate also highlighted “the distress” that Harry suffered “as a result of the illegal activity directed against him and his loved ones”.
During the trial, the prince, at odds with the royal family, testified for eight hours spread over two days of hearing last June.
It was the first appearance of a member of the royal family at the bar since that of the future Edward VII in 1891 for a libel trial.
“Phone hacking was being practiced on an industrial scale by at least three newspapers at the time, and there is no doubt about it,” the Duke of Sussex accused on June 7, on the second day of his testimony.
Prince Harry feels a tenacious resentment towards the tabloid press, which he holds responsible for the death of his mother Diana, chased by paparazzi in Paris in 1997.
He also accuses him of what he describes as harassment against Meghan and of having responsibility for the bad relations he has with his family.
Harry sued the publisher of the Daily Mirror and its Sunday and celebrity editions for hacking voicemail boxes and illegal collection of information, in particular by using private detectives.
The group rejected the vast majority of the accusations, notably contesting any hacking of messaging services. But he had admitted to some illicit processes – for five of the 33 articles – including the use of a private detective regarding a nightclub outing in 2004, and apologized.
He welcomed Friday’s judgment, which gives him “the clarity necessary to move forward with facts that took place years ago.” “Where wrongs have been committed, we unreservedly apologize and take full responsibility and pay appropriate compensation,” a spokesperson said.
The prince is still at odds with the rest of the British royal family. He only made a brief trip to his father’s coronation on May 6 and kept his distance from his father and his brother, heir to the crown William, both of whom were embroiled in his memoirs.
In the range of proceedings Prince Harry has taken against the press, four days ago he was ordered to pay 48,000 pounds ($82,000) after losing a round in a libel case against the Mail on Sunday, for an article relating to his police protection when he visits the United Kingdom.
