Prince Harry handed partial win in phone hacking case

In a partial win for Prince Harry in his legal battle against British newspapers, the High Court in London on Friday ruled that there had been "extensive" phone hacking of Duke of Sussex by the Mirror Group.

Saying that Harry's personal cellphone was probably hacked "to a modest extent" between the end of 2003 to April 2009, Justice Timothy Fancourt ruled that out of the 33 articles submitted by Harry, 15 were the based on information accessed through his mobile voicemail.

The Mirror "could and should have put a stop to it" but instead "turned a blind eye to what was going on, and positively concealed it," the judge said.


Harry, who is among four British celebrities — Coronation Street actor Michael Le Vell; Nikki Sanderson, a former Corrie star herself; Fiona Wightman, the ex-wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse — seeking damages from the Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), called the verdict "vindicating and affirming".

"The mission continues," he added.

Fancourt asserted that phone hacking was a persistent and widespread occurrence spanning numerous years within the Mirror Group. Furthermore, he claimed that senior managers were not only cognizant of this practice but also engaged in covering it up.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the publisher said in a statement: "We welcome today’s judgment that gives the business the necessary clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago.

"Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologise unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation."