Prince Harry In Court: A Look At Legal Battles The Duke Of Sussex Is Fighting Against The UK Press

Prince Harry is testifying in a U.K. court this week — the first time a senior member of Britain's royal family has done so since the 19th century. His appearance is part of a case against the publisher Mirror Group Newspapers, claiming voicemail hacking and other illegal information gathering activities.

That case isn't the only legal action Harry is currently involved in against Britain's tabloid press, however. Here are the legal battles King Charles III's second son is part of:

Mirror Group Newspapers

The civil suit that saw Prince Harry take the stand Tuesday in London's High Court involves cases from Prince Harry and three other well-known British claimants. It alleges that journalists working for Mirror Group Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mirror tabloid, gathered information about the prince unlawfully, including by hacking into voicemails.

It involves 207 newspaper articles published between 1991 and 2011, though only 33 articles relating to Prince Harry will be considered in court.

The claimants argue that senior executives, including Piers Morgan — who edited the Daily Mirror newspaper from 1995 to 2004 — knew of the illegal activities. Morgan has denied any knowledge of such activities.

MGN has previously admitted that phone hacking took place at its tabloids, but its lawyer denied that 28 of the 33 articles involving Harry used unlawfully-gathered information. He said the group had "not admitted" that the other five articles involved unlawful information gathering, according to the BBC.

The suit is being heard before a judge, not a jury, and could result in a decision to award damages.

News Group Newspapers

Prince Harry launched legal proceedings against Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN), which publishes The Sun tabloid, in September 2019, accusing its journalists of unlawfully hacking his voicemails.

NGN says the claims are being brought too late and should be thrown out under the U.K.'s statute of limitations, but Harry claims the delay was due to a secret agreement between the publisher and the royal family, which NGN denies the existence of.

Associated Newspaper Group

Prince Harry is among several claimants — including pop star Elton John — who is accusing the publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday tabloids, Associated Newspapers (ANL) of using unlawful methods to gather information about them, including tapping phone calls and impersonating people to obtain medical information.

Lawyers for Harry and the other claimants say the alleged acts took place between 1993 and 2011, but that the behavior continued as late as 2018.

ANL denies wrongdoing by its journalists and says the cases should be thrown out because of the statute of limitations.

Separate ANL suit

Separately, Prince Harry alone is suing ANL for libel over an article about his legal battle with the U.K. government regarding his security arrangements.

The article, published in the Daily Mail in February last year, alleged Harry tried to keep his legal battle with the U.K. government a secret.

A judge ruled the article was defamatory, and Harry is seeking a decision without a trial.

The prince also accepted an apology and damages from the same publisher over other articles two years ago in a separate libel lawsuit.

First published on June 7, 2023 / 7:41 AM

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