Earl Spencer, the 58-year-old brother of the late Princess Diana, expressed support for his nephew, stating that he had a strong case due to Mirror Group Newspapers' admission of phone-hacking.
Prince Harry, 38, has filed a lawsuit against MGN over 148 articles that he claims were the result of illegal activities, including phone-hacking.
MGN has denied the allegations made by the Duke of Sussex. His claim is focused on the period between 1996 and 2011, during which he had a five-year relationship with Chelsy Davy. Earl Spencer criticized Daily Mail columnist Amanda Platell for her comments about Prince Harry, calling her "pathetic" and questioning her credibility. He accused her of misrepresenting significant legal evidence as something trivial.
Platell had raised the question of whether Prince Harry is still fixated on his former girlfriend, stating that Harry mentioned her 118 times in court evidence, while mentioning Meghan only five times. Earl Spencer responded to a Twitter user's inquiry about evidence of phone-hacking, pointing to the substantial amounts paid out by the Daily Mirror group to those who were hacked.
Reports suggest that Prince Harry is currently not on speaking terms with most senior members of the Royal Family. After attending King Charles's Coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey in early May, he reportedly left abruptly. However, Prince Harry maintains a close relationship with the Spencer family, including Earl Spencer and his aunts, Lady Jane Fellowes and Lady Sarah McCorquodale.
Earl Spencer's mention of the Daily Mail comes five years after the tabloid issued an apology and agreed to pay damages and legal costs over a claim that he had acted callously and unbrotherly toward Princess Diana following her divorce from Prince Charles in 1992.
Platell's column, published in January 2017, suggested that Earl Spencer had refused to provide accommodation for the late Princess of Wales at his Northamptonshire estate, Althorp. The newspaper later acknowledged that the statement was defamatory and false.
