Prince Harry has begun legal action against the publishers of Rupert Murdoch’s Sun newspaper and the Daily Mirror due to allegations of phone hacking as he steps up their battle against British tabloid media.
“Claims have been filed on behalf of The Duke of Sussex at the High Court regarding the illegal interception of voicemail messages,” a spokeswoman for Prince Harry said, declining to give further details of the claim. A spokeswoman for News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, also confirmed that a claim had been issued by the Royal.
The phone-hacking allegations date back many years ago.
In 2013 a London court heard that the phones of Prince Harry and Kate Middleton were hacked by staff working for Rupert Murdoch’s now-defunct News of the World tabloid. News of the World had also been part of News Group Newspapers (owner of The Sun).
The news follows Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, announcing on Tuesday that she will be taking legal action against the Mail on Sunday over the “unlawful” publication of a private letter.
Earlier this week the Duke of Sussex condemned the publication for their “relentless” campaign against his wife, stating they did not consider the consequences of their coverage.
"There is a human cost to this relentless propaganda, specifically when it is knowingly false and malicious, and though we have continued to put on a brave face – as so many of you can relate to – I cannot begin to describe how painful it has been," Prince Harry said 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. I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditised 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."
The Duchess' proceedings are seperate to the new legal action levelled by Prince Harry, which was first reported by Byline Investigates.
- With AAP.
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Top Comments
The hacked phone calls are believed to have taken place in the early 2000s, so it appears he is now going with a full frontal assault on the media. He wants to shut down negative criticism of himself and Meghan and the irony is, they received very positive media coverage of their African tour, but have chosen the same time to 'bite the hand that feeds them'.
I'm not the Guest OP, but why should they not comment on these "harmless" people who are funded by the public purse? And negative or critical opinions on the behaviour of such folk do not equate to "hate", by the way. I don't see any "hate" there, just an absence of uncritical approval.
LOL There are so many Guests out there - I've started a spreadsheet tracking and cross-referencing key criteria to keep track of them all.
There are quite serious ramifications for press freedom with this law suit. It seems Harry wants to go back to the days when the only reporting of the Rf was flattering, bordering on sycophantic. As for wasting 'my life', I see you too are commenting on these articles, albeit from a different perspective, where any criticism is deemed 'hateful'.
You think the Murdoch press are the hand that feeds the royal family? Pretty sure the Windsor’s would do fine without the tabloids- whether the tabloids could survive without their constant stream of royal lies is another question though.
If anyone with power and money wants to drag Rupert through the courts they’re doing all of us a favour. Maybe one day we could get some decent political journalism back in Australia.