Why is Prince Harry going to court again against the UK press?

Prince Harry, King Charles III’s youngest son, begins his second major court case against the British tabloid industry today. Harry, 40, has accused News Group Newspapers of hacking into his phones.

News Group Newspapers is the publishing company owned by media mogul billionaire Rupert Murdoch. It includes titles like The Sun, The Times and the now-defunct News of the World.

Harry is not alone in claiming News Group illegally hacked phones. News Group has settled over 1,300 claims related to a phone hacking scandal that forced them to close News of the World in 2011.

In the High Court today, Harry is the last claimant remaining to force this case in front of the UK’s legal system. It is the sequel to his tirade against the UK’s tabloid media.

In response to the way his mother, Princess Diana, was hounded by the press, Harry blames paparazzi interference for her death. Now with his wife, Meghan Markle, regularly attacked by the British tabloids in a similar manner, Harry has started a one-man mission to make the industry accountable.

Harry’s tirade against the tabloids

During the 2000s, News of the World published multiple stories that could only be explained through hacked voicemails. One included a 2005 story that Prince Willian, Harry’s older brother, had a knee injury.

Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator working for News of the World was sentenced to six months in prison in 2007 for hacking the phones of members of the royal family.

The phone hacking scandal reached its zenith in 2011. After the British police reopened an investigation to the claims and through pressure from investigations in other press outlets, News of the World admitted to hacking phones.

News of the World agreed to multiple settlements to compensate people they had spied on. Former editors Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks went on trial in 2013. Coulson was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Brooks was acquitted and is now chief executive of Murdoch’s British newspaper business.

In 2019, Harry began his fight against the tabloids. He launched three lawsuits against the Mirror Group, News Group, and Associated Newspapers.

In 2023, after becoming the first British royal in a century to testify in a witness box, Harry won the first of these major court cases. He took the Daily Mirror to the High Court for hacking his phone, winning €165,000.

“Today is a great day for truth, as well as accountability,” Harry said in a statement read by his lawyer outside court. “I’ve been told that slaying dragons will get you burned. But in light of today’s victory and the importance of doing what is needed for a free and honest press, it is a worthwhile price to pay. The mission continues.”

All this litigation hasn’t been at no cost to Harry. Taking the tabloids to court was a move at odds with the royal family’s reserved approach to public action.

Harry revealed in court papers that his father opposed his litigation. He also said his older brother William, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, had received a “huge sum” to settle a complaint against News Group.

Harry said his tabloid war was central to his fallout with his family.

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With the 2023 trial against The Mirror won, Harry could move onto the next two against News of the World and The Sun owned by News Group, and against the Daily Mail, owned by Associated Newspapers.

Harry v. Murdoch

Harry’s case against the Murdoch-owned publishing company News Group begins today at the High Court in London. It will likely last around 10 weeks and will see the prince appear in the witness box again for several days in February.

He claims News Group journalists and private investigators they hired violated his privacy by using unlawful tactics to dig up dirt on him and his family between 1996 and 2011.

His fellow claimant, Tom Watson, a former deputy leader of the Labour Party, said his voicemails were intercepted during a period when he was investigating the hacking scandal.

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Their lawyer said the newspapers had a widespread practice of using deception to obtain medical, phone and flight records, bugged homes and placed listening devices in cars.

They allege that executives concealed the skulduggery through means that included destroying documents. “This allegation is wrong, unsustainable, and is strongly denied,” News Group said in a statement.

Former executives accused of playing a role include Will Lewis, now CEO of the Washington Post, and Brooks, the News UK CEO who was tried for her editorial role at News of the World. They have denied wrongdoing.

News Group strongly denies the allegations and it said Harry failed to bring his lawsuit within the required six-year limit.

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News Group apologized to News of the World phone hacking victims in 2011. The Sun has never accepted liability.