Prince Harry Receives $500K Settlement in Phone Hacking Case
Prince Harry has received substantial damages in a settlement with Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) after a legal battle over phone hacking claims. The Duke of Sussex was awarded £140,600, with an interim payment towards the costs of £400,000, following allegations that MGN unlawfully hacked into his phone to source information for articles. This decision comes after a court ruling in December found that phone hacking at MGN was widespread in the 1990s. In total, the settlement and damages amount to approximately $500,000, on top of an earlier court-ordered $180,000.
The case, which could have potentially led to another trial, involved 115 articles that allegedly represented unlawful intrusions into Prince Harry's private life. Justice Timothy Fancourt indicated that Harry's phone had been targeted multiple times between 2003 and 2009, with at least 15 articles published based on information from the hacking. MGN has issued a public apology, acknowledging the events and expressing a desire to move forward.
The dispute lasted four years and is part of Prince Harry's broader campaign against what he sees as invasive British tabloid practices, which he claims have negatively impacted his life, as well as the lives of his late mother and wife. Former Daily Mail editor Piers Morgan, implicated in the case, denied wrongdoing and criticized Prince Harry, while MGN's settlement aims to resolve the claims against them.
