The British editor of the Daily Mirror apologized on Wednesday for spying on Prince Harry, but denied other allegations, when the lawyer for King Charles III’s son accused the newspaper of collecting illegal information on an “industrial scale”.
The statements of the editor-in-chief of the British tabloid took place in a judgment on one of the trials of hack from Harry’s phone.
However, the publisher’s admission that the publisher hired a private investigator for a 2004 article was not one of nearly 150 stories Harry claims resulted from illegal access to his cell phone, so the revelation may have little impact on the verdict .
The seven-week trial that began in London is Harry’s biggest test yet in the legal battle with the British media.
Harry and other celebrities are suing Mirror Group Newspapers for allegedly misusing private information between 1991 and 2011.
The Prince was not in court when his lawyer, David Sherborne, made the opening statement, arguing illegal acts were “widespread and common” by reporters and editors of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People.
Bills and phone records showed how the news, entertainment, sports and photography departments relied on investigators who used techniques deemed illegal.
Sherborne claimed that former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan knew about the “hacking” and even took part in it, but Morgan publicly denied involvement in the episode.
The allegations date back to a scandal involving journalists and private investigators intercepting voicemails to collect information on members of the royal family, politicians, athletes, celebrities and even crime victims.
Mirror Group Newspapers denied it had ‘hacked’ the phones to intercept voicemail messages from Harry and three other celebrities, but in court documents describing the defense, the publisher acknowledged “any evidence of third-party instructions to engage with other types of illegal information”. meeting.
The case is the first of Harry’s phone hacking cases to go to trial, which he is expected to testify in June, according to his lawyer.
The Prince is waging a war of words and misconduct against British newspapers in legal action and his best-selling memoir “Spare”, vowing to make it his life’s mission to reform the media he blames for the death of his mother, the princess Diana. She died in 1997 in a car accident in Paris while trying to escape the paparazzi.
Their lawsuits could further damage family relationships that have been strained since Harry and his wife Meghan left royal life in 2020 and moved to California after complaining about racist attitudes from the British press.
Source: DN
