Prince Harry Launches Legal Battle Against The Sun and The Mirror After Phone Hacking
Legal proceedings have been filed on behalf of Prince Harry against British tabloids The Sun and The Mirror for the alleged illegal interception of the royal's voicemails.
The claims come just days after Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, announced that they would be suing The Mail on Sunday after a private letter penned by the duchess was published.
Tensions between British royalty and British tabloids escalated today as claims were filed on behalf of Prince Harry against the owner of The Sun and the former owner of The Mirror for allegedly illegally intercepting the royal's voicemails. The legal proceedings came just days after Prince Harry and Meghan announced that they would be suing the publisher of The Mail on Sunday for publishing a private letter penned by the Duchess of Sussex.
Buckingham Palace confirmed to BAZAAR.com that claims have been filed on behalf of the Duke of Sussex but provided no further comment.
The specifics of the court filings, which were first reported by Byline Investigations, have not been revealed, but the claims were filed at the High Court by Harry's lawyers at Clintons LLP on September 27, before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their lawsuit against the Mail's publisher.
Legal experts believe the claims go back to a series of phone hackings in the 2000s, which affected the British royal family. A voicemail-hacking incident involving Prince William at the time led to a wider scandal regarding the now-defunct News of the World's questionable news-gathering tactics, according to The Guardian. New Group, which published News of the World and currently publishes The Sun, confirmed to The Guardian that claims were filed.
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Of the decision to sue the Mail, Prince Harry compared press coverage of Meghan to that of his mother, Princess Diana, in a statement. "Though this action may not be the safe one, it is the right one. Because my deepest fear is history repeating itself," he said, referring to the fatal car crash while allegedly evading paparazzi that killed Diana. "I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces."
In a statement, the Mail on Sunday responded to the lawsuit, "The Mail on Sunday stands by the story it published and will be defending this case vigorously. Specifically, we categorically deny that the Duchess’s letter was edited in any way that changed its meaning."
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