UK

Mirror publisher to pay ‘substantial sum’ to Prince Harry after hacking claim settled – as duke hits out at Piers Morgan

Prince Harry and the publisher of the Daily Mirror newspaper have settled the remainder of his hacking claim against them.

It follows a High Court judge’s ruling in December that phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers was carried out from 1996 to 2011, and was “widespread and habitual” from 1998.

Judge Timothy Fancourt also said that phone hacking continued “to some extent” during the Leveson Inquiry into media standards in 2011 and 2012.

He also concluded that Harry’s phone was hacked “to a modest extent” by MGN, awarding him £140,600 in damages.

At a hearing to determine costs on Friday, Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne said the publisher had accepted it would pay “a substantial additional sum” by way of damages and his legal costs.

The Duke of Sussex‘s case was “proved in part” during the trial last year, with 15 of the 33 articles presented in court found to be the product of phone hacking or other unlawful information gathering, the judge ruled.

However, a further 115 articles in his claim could have led to a further trial had a settlement not been reached.

More on Prince Harry

During the hearing in London on Friday, Mr Sherborne said the publisher would make an interim payment of £400,000.

After the settlement was announced in court, an MGN spokesperson said: “We are pleased to have reached this agreement, which gives our business further clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago and for which we have apologised.”

Read more:
Key findings in the Harry v MGN judgment

Harry’s case was heard alongside similar claims brought by actor Michael Turner, who is known professionally as Michael Le Vell and is most famous for playing Kevin Webster in Coronation Street, Hollyoaks and former Coronation Street actress Nikki Sanderson, and Fiona Wightman, the ex-wife of comedian Paul Whitehouse.

Claims brought by Ms Sanderson and Ms Wightman were dismissed by Mr Justice Fancourt because they were made too late, despite the judge finding that some of their complaints were proved.

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