Prince Harry phone hack trial begins; Daily Mirror publisher admits unlawful information gathering

Prince Harry’s first phone-hacking trial against a British tabloid publisher began Wednesday, with the newspaper company apologizing for using a private investigator for a 2004 article about the royal, who was 19 at the time.

Mirror Group Newspapers, which publishes the Daily Mirror, issued an apology for its story titled “Sex on the beach with Harry” but denied other allegations, including that it hacked phones to acquire voicemail messages involving the prince and others.

The publisher admitted to “some evidence of the instruction of third parties to engage in other types of UIG,” or unlawful information gathering, according to court papers.

“MGN unreservedly apologizes for all such instances of UIG, and assures the claimants that such conduct will never be repeated,” the company says in the documents.

The London trial relates to a lawsuit by Harry and multiple other celebrities. It comes eight years after The Mirror apologized on its front page for phone hacking and vowed $15 million in compensation.

In the new trial, the publisher claims Harry and others came forward with their allegations after a time limit had passed. Before the trial, the group said it takes responsibility for “historical wrongdoing” but would “vigorously defend against allegations of wrongdoing where our journalists acted lawfully.”

A lawyer for Harry accused the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People of “widespread and habitual” illegal actions.

“It was a flood of illegality,” David Sherborne said during his opening remarks. “But worse, this flood was being approved by senior executives, managing editors and members of the board.”

Harry didn’t appear Wednesday at the High Court but is expected to testify in June. He’s also involved in lawsuits against the companies that publish the British newspapers the Daily Mail and The Sun.

Last month, Harry pushed back against News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, after it claimed the lawsuit should be tossed because his allegations were too old. Harry’s legal team claimed his brother, Prince William, settled with the Rupert Murdoch-owned company for “a very large sum of money” in 2020, delaying Harry’s own lawsuit.

“The reason for this was to avoid the situation where a member of the royal family would have to sit in the witness box and recount the specific details of the private and highly sensitive voicemails that had been intercepted,” Harry said in a witness statement.

Harry, 38, and wife Meghan Markle, 41, have long been critical of the media scrutiny in the U.K., including describing racist behavior. Harry and Meghan stepped down from their senior royal duties in 2020 and are raising their two children in Southern California.

With News Wire Services