Prince Harry.Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Prince Harryhas received an apology from Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for unlawful information gathering as the lawsuit comes to London court.
The apology arrived Wednesday as the trial for the Duke of Sussex’s suit against the publisher of theDaily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, Daily Expressand more officially began this week.Prince Harry, 38, is one of four “representative” claimants chosen as “test cases” from a larger group of high-profile figures suing the publisher for alleged unlawful information gathering,The Independentpreviously reported.
The apology arrived in court filings from MGN, stating that the media group “unreservedly apologises” for one instance of unlawful information gathering againstKing Charles' son and that the violation “warrants compensation,“Sky Newsreported. According to the outlet, an MGN journalist ordered a private investigator to illegally gather information about the prince’s activities at a London nightclub in 2004. The article that followed inThe Peopleis not one of Harry’s claims in this case, however, theBBCsaid.
“MGN unreservedly apologises for all such instances of UIG, and assures the claimants that such conduct will never be repeated,” the apology read in full.
The publishing hub continues to deny allegations of voicemail hacking, arguing that the legal time limit has passed for some of the cases.Prince Harry’s case involves 148 articles published between 1996 and 2010, the BBC added.
While the Duke of Sussex’s attorney David Sherborne was at court Wednesday, the Duke of Sussex was not.Prince Harrywas not expected to make an appearance at the start of the trial against MGN, though he made aquick tripto the U.K. over the weekend to see his father’s coronation on Saturday. He flew home nearly immediately after, arriving back in the U.S. on the evening of his sonPrince Archie’s4th birthday.
David Sherborne.Justin Ng/Avalon
In a written submission, Sherborne said his client “experienced unusual telephone and media-related activity which is consistent, now in hindsight but at the time unsuspected, with the unauthorised accessing of his voicemails and other unlawful information gathering,“Sky Newsreported.
The attorney added thatPrince Harryspecifically received missed and hung-up phone calls “on an almost daily basis from numbers he did not recognise.”
“This unlawful activity, including in particular knowing where the Duke of Sussex was going to be at a given time and the widespread dissemination amongst MGN’s journalists of private information relating to him, posed a very real and large-scale security risk for the Duke of Sussex, his family and his associates,” he argued,Sky Newssaid.
RICHARD POHLE/POOL/AFP via Getty
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Though he wasn’t there for the start of the trial,Prince Harryis expected to appear in London court in June. The trial itself is expected to last between six and seven weeks, and Harry will make modern royal history as the first member of the royal family to step up in court as a witness when he gives evidence.
The other claimants are actress Nikki Sanderson, actor Michael Turner and Fiona Wightman, ex-wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse.
Prince Harryis also currently involved in litigation against two other publishing hubs for claims of unlawful information gathering.
Prince Harry.Jordan Pettitt/PA Images via Getty Images
In late March, the Duke of Sussex made asurprise appearanceat London’s High Court, attending three out of four days of hearings that will determine whether his lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, publisher of theDaily MailandMail on Sunday, goes to trial. A further decision has not yet been announced.
The Duke of Sussex claimed NGN had a “secret agreement” in place with the royal family which meant that he previously could not bring a claim against the publisher forward and that his brotherPrince Williamquietly received a “very large sum of money” in a settlement.
source: people.com
