This Friday, Prince Harry obtained the conviction of the editor of the British tabloid Daily Mirror to pay him 140,600 pounds sterling (163,000 euros) in damages for articles resulting from the hacking of telephone messages.
The judge estimated that 15 of the 33 disputed articles retained in the procedure were the result of hacking into the messaging system of the youngest son of King Charles III or his entourage as well as other illicit processes. He estimated that Prince Harry’s mobile phone messaging had been hacked “to a modest extent”.
A stubborn resentment towards the tabloid press
The magistrate further highlighted Prince Harry’s “tendency” to believe that “everything published was the product of voicemail interceptions” because this practice “prevailed within the Mirror Group at the time”. But this practice was “not the only journalistic tool at the time and claims in relation to the 18 other articles do not stand up to careful analysis”.
The magistrate also highlighted “the distress” that Harry suffered “as a result of the illegal activity directed against him and his loved ones”. During the trial, the youngest son of Charles III, at odds with the royal family, testified for eight hours spread over two hearing days last June. It was the first appearance of a member of the royal family at the bar since that of the future Edward VII in 1891 for a libel trial.
The 39-year-old prince feels a tenacious resentment towards the tabloid press, which he holds responsible for the death of his mother, Diana, chased by paparazzi in Paris in 1997. He also blames it for what he describes as harassment against Meghan and having responsibility for the bad relations he has with his family.