Prince Harry has filed claims against two newspapers over alleged phone hackings. A royal source confirmed Harry had filed claims at the High Court "regarding the illegal interception of voicemail messages" but that as the particulars of the claims were not yet public, there could be no further comment.
Further reports added that the Prince had issued legal proceedings against British papers The Sun and The Daily Mirror. The Guardian reported that claims had been filed by solicitors Clintons, a company that has won many past payouts in phone-hacking cases on behalf of its clients.
A spokeswoman for News Group Newspapers (NGN) - which owns The Sun and the now defunct News of The World - said: "We confirm that a claim has been issued by the Duke of Sussex. We have no further comment to make at the current time." Speaking to the Press Association, a source at Reach, owner of The Mirror, added that the company was aware proceedings had been issued, however had yet to receive them, so was unable to comment further.
Prince Harry is taking legal action against the newspapers
As news of Prince Harry's lawsuit broke, many royal fans threw their weight behind the Duke and Duchess of Sussex on Twitter. One wrote: "Go Harry, we are all standing with you no matter what the outcome." A second simply added: "Well done Harry."
The news comes the same week that it was revealed Meghan Markle would be taking legal action after a private letter was published. On Tuesday evening, Prince Harry released a lengthy statement on the couple's website, Sussex Official, in which he spoke about how his wife has become "one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press."
Prince Harry wrote a defiant statement to defend his wife
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He explained that it had been incredibly painful for them as a family. In full, the statement read: "As a couple, we believe in media freedom and objective, truthful reporting. We regard it as a cornerstone of democracy and in the current state of the world – on every level – we have never needed responsible media more. Unfortunately, my wife has become one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences – a ruthless campaign that has escalated over the past year, throughout her pregnancy and while raising our newborn son."
The statement continued: "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. Because in today’s digital age, press fabrications are repurposed as truth across the globe. One day’s coverage is no longer tomorrow’s chip-paper. Up to now, we have been unable to correct the continual misrepresentations - something that these select media outlets have been aware of and have therefore exploited on a daily and sometimes hourly basis."
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