There have been reports suggesting that Prince Harry's lawyers also allegedly engaged hackers to assist in their lawsuit against the Daily Mirror. This choice seems peculiar considering the nature of the tabloid's actions.
The owner of the tabloid has issued an apology but denies any involvement in phone hacking. The admission was made in court filings where the Mirror Group Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mirror, acknowledged and apologized for unlawfully gathering information about Prince Harry in their reporting.
They expressed their willingness to provide compensation as the prince's initial phone hacking trial began. The group maintained their denial of phone hacking to intercept voicemail messages and argued that Harry's claims exceeded the six-year time limit.
Although they denied hacking phones, the publisher acknowledged the existence of evidence related to other forms of unlawful information gathering. The court papers stated that the publisher, MGN, unreservedly apologizes for instances of unlawful information gathering (UIG) and assures the claimants that such conduct will never recur. The apology was not seen as a tactical move to reduce damages but rather as an acknowledgment that such conduct should never have taken place.
Prince Harry's co-claimants in the mirror trial are Nikki Sanderson and Michael Turner, known for their roles on Coronation Street, and Fiona Whitman, the former wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse. These lawsuits have been combined as a test case that could potentially influence the outcome of hacking claims against MGN by other notable figures such as Cheryl Tweedy, the estate of the late singer George Michael, and soccer commentator Ian Wright.
Prince Harry has accused reporters from the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, and Sunday People of using illegal methods to gather information for nearly 150 articles about his family and friends. The newspaper, however, disputes his claims, asserting that legal methods were used for most of their articles.
Prince Harry is expected to testify in person in June, following his surprise appearance in the high court to observe part of a four-day hearing in one of his other lawsuits. His lawyer, David Sherborne, stated during the opening statement that unlawful acts were pervasive and routine, carried out on an industrial scale by reporters and editors at the Daily Mirror.
Sherborne highlighted how invoices and phone records demonstrated the heavy reliance of the news, entertainment, sports, and photo departments on investigators who employed unscrupulous tactics. He also alleged that former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan was aware of and even participated in phone hacking, a claim that Morgan has publicly denied.
Royal experts have claimed that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle deliberately distance themselves from other members of the royal family. Furthermore, the diary editor of the Daily Mirror, Richard Eden, suggests that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex might reveal their children Archie and Lilibet's royal titles as prince and princess as a form of revenge, following their eviction from Frogmore Cottage.
