Prince Harry said in an interview on ITV that despite feeling “vindicated” after a “monumental victory” last year against a major British tabloid, he believes his battle against the press was a “central piece” of the rift that formed between him and members of the royal family.
Speaking publicly about the court case for the first time as part of the ITV documentary “Tabloids on Trial,” which aired on Thursday, Prince Harry relayed details of the case after a High Court judge ruled in December 2023 that Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) unlawfully gathered personal information on him to be used in published stories.
In the interview, Prince Harry described the tactics used by the tabloids, including voice mail inception, unlawful information gathering and the use of private investigators to get credit card details and flight information for him and his love interests over the years.
In December last year, Prince Harry was awarded £140,600 after the UK High Court ruled he was the subject of “extensive” phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) from 2006 to 2011. Justice Fancourt ruled that 15 stories published about Prince Harry by MGN used unlawful information gathering methods such as hacking of voicemail messages and the use of private investigators.
Following the ruling last year, an MGN spokesperson said the publisher welcomed the judgment “that gives the business the necessary clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago,” according to PA Media.
“Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologise unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation,” the spokesperson added.
Prince Harry described it as a “David vs Goliath situation,” in the ITV documentary.
“The Davids are the claimants, and the Goliath is this vast media enterprise,” he told ITV News correspondent Rebecca Barry.
Other celebrities, including Hugh Grant, were also interviewed for the documentary about their legal cases against British tabloids.
When asked to what extent his battle against the tabloids destroyed his relationship with his family, Prince Harry said it was “certainly a central piece.”
“But that’s a hard question to answer because anything I say about my family results in a torrent of abuse from the press,” he added.
While Prince Harry said he feels vindicated by the Mirror phone hacking decision, he added that he wished his family would have joined him in pursuing the court case.
“It would be nice if we did it as a family,” he added.
