Daily Mirror admits to ‘unlawful information gathering’ on Prince Harry

British tabloid publisher the Daily Mirror has admitted and apologized for illegally gathering information about Prince Harry in its report, and said it will pay compensation, as the Prince’s first phone-hacking trial begins Wednesday.

The admission was made in a court filing outlining Mirror Group Newspapers’ defence.

The group continues to deny that they hacked the phone to intercept voicemail messages, and say that Harry brought the claim beyond the six-year time limit. But it admitted there was “some evidence of third-party instructions to engage in other types of UIGs.” [unlawful information gathering].”

He said this “compensation warrants,” but did not spell out what form that can take.

“MGN unreservedly apologizes for all UIG incidents, and assures the plaintiffs that such actions will not be repeated,” the court papers said.

The publisher said the apology was not a tactical move to mitigate damages, but was done “because such an act would never happen.”

Harry looked forward to witnessing it

Harry said reporters at the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People used illegal methods to gather material from family and friends for nearly 150 articles. The newspaper said it was wrong about how its reporters obtained information, saying it used legal methods for many of its articles.

The activity has been in question for more than two decades, when journalists and private eyes intercept voicemails in search of members of the royal family, politicians, athletes, celebrities and even victims of crime.

LISTENING | The relationship between the monarchy and the media:

Harry is expected to testify in person in June, his lawyer said. It will not be the first time at the High Court, after appearing in surprise last month to observe most of the four-day hearing in one of the other lawsuits.

He did not appear to open his statement at the trial. Harry returned to California after attending the coronation of his father, King Charles III, on Saturday.

The prince has fought British newspapers over lawsuits and in his best-selling memoirs. spare, vowed to make it his life’s mission to reform the media blamed for the death of his mother, Princess Diana. He died in a car accident in Paris in 1997 while being followed by paparazzi.

Harry is also suing the publishers of the Daily Mail and The Sun over the phone-hacking scandal that metastasized after a year-long investigation into press ethics in 2011 revealed an employee of the now-dead Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid News of the World. on a cell phone voicemail. Several executives of the Murdoch empire and their employees were subject to criminal investigations as a result, and News Corp paid hundreds of millions of pounds in damages to victims.

Alludes to royal affairs with press barons

Harry has outlined his grievances against the media in court papers, saying that the press hounded him from the beginning and created a narrative that portrayed him as “the ‘thicko’, the ‘lie’, the ‘little drinker.'” His relationship with his girlfriend was wrecked by “all the tabloids press as a third party,” he alleged.

Harry’s lawsuit could damage family ties that have been strained since Harry and his wife, Meghan, left royal life in 2020 and moved to the United States after complaining about racist attitudes from the British press.

WATCH | Harry attended the coronation solo:

The prince’s lawyers have argued that an exception should be made to the six-year time limit for indictments because publishers actively cover up skullduggery.

Harry blamed the delay in bringing the suit, in part, on his family. He insisted he was barred from bringing the case against The Sun and other Murdoch-owned newspapers because of a “confidentiality agreement” – allegedly approved by Queen Elizabeth – that called for a private settlement and an apology.

“The reason for this is to avoid a situation where members of the royal family have to sit in the witness box and reveal specific details of private and highly sensitive voicemails that have been intercepted,” Harry said in a witness statement to the Murdoch News Group newspaper.

“The institution is very nervous about this and wants to avoid all the reputational damage it suffered in 1993,” he said, referring to a leaked recorded transcript – published in the Sunday Mirror – of the intimate conversation. His father, then the Prince of Wales, was with his paramour, now Queen Camilla, who compared himself to a tampon.

Harry said his brother, Prince William, quietly settled his own hacking lawsuit with the News Group for “a huge amount of money” in 2020. He also claimed that his father had ordered royal staff to order him to drop the lawsuit because it was bad. family.

Murdoch’s company denied there was a “confidentiality agreement” and would not comment on the alleged settlement.

The palace has not responded to a request for comment.