Prince Harry has vowed to continue his mission to bring change to the British press after Mirror Group Newspapers agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his lawsuit over phone-hacking.
In December, the High Court ruled that Harry had been a victim of unlawful information gathering including phone-hacking by journalists on the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People tabloids with the knowledge of their editors.
However, that judgement only considered 33 of 148 articles Harry had complained about, ruling in his favour over 15 of these.
His lawyer David Sherborne told the court on Friday MGN had now conceded the rest of his claim.
“Mirror Group Newspapers will pay the Duke of Sussex a substantial additional sum by way of damages,” Mr Sherborne said.
Prince Harry was originally awarded 140,600 British pounds ($272,173) after the judge agreed he had been unlawfully targeted by MGN journalists.
Prince Harry said he he would “continue to the very end” in his mission to bring change to the British press.
“Everything we said was happening at Mirror Group was in fact happening, and indeed far worse as the court ruled in its extremely damning judgement,” he said in a statement read out by Mr Sherborne.
“As I said back in December, our mission continues.
“I believe in the positive change it will bring for all of us.
“It is the very reason why I started this, and why I will continue to see it through to the end.”
Judge Timothy Fancourt concluded in December there had been widespread hacking and unlawful activities at MGN, such as “blagging”, or gaining information by deception, from 1996 until 2011, even carrying on while a public inquiry into illicit practices at British newspapers was taking place.
Mr Sherborne said MGN would likely pay more than 2 million pounds to cover the claimants’ legal costs for their generic case, and an interim payment of 400,000 pounds towards the prince’s individual costs.
Prince Harry also launched another attack on Piers Morgan, the former editor of the Daily Mirror.
“In light of all this, we call again for the authorities to uphold the rule of law and to prove that no one is above it. That includes Mr Morgan, who as editor, knew perfectly well what was going on, as the judge held,” his statement said.
“His contempt for the court’s ruling and his continued attacks ever since demonstrate why it was so important to obtain a clear and detailed judgement.”
Harry was one of about 100 claimants – including actors, sports stars, celebrities and people who simply had a connection to high-profile figures – who have sued MGN, and he and three others were chosen as test cases.
Prince Harry became the first senior British royal for 130 years to give evidence in court when he appeared at a trial in June.
Harry was not in court for Friday’s hearing, having made a flying trip to Britain earlier this week to see King Charles after learning of his father’s cancer diagnosis.
Reuters