Prince Harry vows to see press mission 'to the end'
10-02-2024 12:42 PM
Ammon News - Britain's Prince Harry said on Friday his mission to purge the press would continue "through to the end" after he accepted substantial damages to settle his case against Mirror Group Newspapers.
He also delivered another broadside against former editor Piers Morgan.
In December, the High Court in London ruled that Harry had been a victim of unlawful information gathering, including phone-hacking, by journalists on the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People tabloids with the knowledge of their editors.
Judge Timothy Fancourt ruled that about half the stories he examined were the result of unlawful acts and awarded the prince - the first British royal for 130 years to give evidence when he appeared as a witness last June - 140,600 pounds ($177,170) in damages.
That trial had only considered 33 of 148 articles put forward by Harry's legal team, and on Friday his lawyer David Sherborne told a High Court hearing MGN had now agreed to pay further substantial damages and his legal costs, of at least 400,000, to settle the outstanding claims.
In a statement, King Charles' younger son said the settlement had vindicated his claims about the newspapers' behaviour.
"Everything we said was happening at Mirror Group was in fact happening, and indeed far worse as the Court ruled in its extremely damning judgement," he said in a statement read outside court by his lawyer.
Harry was not in court for Friday's hearing, having made a flying trip to Britain earlier this week to see his father after the king had been diagnosed with a form of cancer.
Reuters