2023-12-15 15:39:45
Published on Dec 15 2023 at 4:15 p.m.Updated Dec 15 2023 at 4:39 p.m.
Prince Harry has scored a major victory in his battle against the English tabloids, which he accuses of using illegal methods to expose his private life. In a highly anticipated judgment, the High Court of London ordered the publisher of the daily newspaper “Daily Mirror” to pay 140,600 pounds (163,745 euros) in damages.
The judge found the existence of “extensive” voicemail hacking practices targeting the Duke of Sussex during the years 2006 to 2011 and the employment of 11 private detectives in connection with “illegal information gathering”.
The facts particularly concern the period of breakup between Prince Harry and his girlfriend at the time, Chelsy Davy. The information “was obtained by intercepting his voice mail”, indicates the judgment.
The youngest son of King Charles welcomed this judgment: “I was told that I was going to burn myself while slaying the dragons. But in light of this victory and the importance of doing what is necessary for a free and honest press – it is worth the price. The mission continues. »
A real “mission”
Harry is the first member of the royal family to testify in court in the United Kingdom, breaking with a practice among “royals” of staying away from the law to avoid making waves. The troublemaker of his generation among the Windsors considers it a “mission” that he has to “change the British media landscape”.
During his court hearing in June, followed by the world’s media, he accused the publishers of having “blood on their hands”. He holds the paparazzi responsible for the death of his mother and believes that he suffered psychologically from the great media coverage of the escapades of his adolescence, from the Nazi costume to the consumption of cannabis.
Through his lawyer, David Sherborne, Harry called on Friday for the courts and the Metropolitan Police to “take action against the company and those who broke the law”.
Knowledge of the facts
The whole question is whether the directors of Mirror Group Newspapers were aware of these facts at the time. However, the High Court considers that two of them, Paul Vickers, the legal director, and Sly Bailey, the CEO, were aware. “The risk of illegal activity should normally have been the subject of an investigation, at the beginning of 2007 at the latest. But this was never the case,” indicates the judgment.
The case also affects Piers Morgan, a British audiovisual figure and former editor of the “Mirror”, with certain witnesses having told the judge that he had openly mentioned voicemail as a source of information.
The troublemaker of his generation among the Windsors considers it a ‘mission’ that he has to ‘change the British media landscape’.
In 2011, the telephone tapping scandal went so far as to cause the closure of one of the major press titles across the Channel, “News of the World”. A parliamentary commission of inquiry forced the British press to be more transparent and to create a new regulator.
The judgment in the Harry affair could have serious consequences for Mirror Group Newspapers if other personalities, in its wake, file complaints against the newspaper.
Many fronts
This affair is just one of the many fronts opened by Harry against British newspapers. He also embarked on a legal battle against Associated Newspapers (ANL), owner of the “Daily Mail”, and Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN).
Sometimes successfully. His wife Meghan Markle won her case against the “Mail on Sunday” which published a letter addressed to her father. As for Harry’s complaint for defamation against the newspaper over an article concerning his police protection, it was deemed admissible. Another highly anticipated hearing is therefore planned for 2024.
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