Prince Harry is making good on his word to defeat the British tabloids!
Buckingham Palace confirmed the Duke of Sussex has begun legal action against the owners of multiple UK outlets — the Sun, the Daily Mirror, and the now-defunct News of the World — over alleged phone hacking claims.
According to BBC, docs have been filed at the High Court on behalf of the 35-year-old “regarding the alleged illegal interception of voicemail messages.”
The Duke’s claims date back to 2007, when Clive Goodman, then-royal editor of News of the World, and Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator, were convicted of intercepting voicemail messages left for royal aids and were subsequently imprisoned.
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This apparently widely-practiced technique saw journalists hack into voicemail messages of celebs with the help of a default factory-set PIN number and use the information to write news stories. The allegations of phone-hacking at the News of the World led to the closure of the outlet in 2011 and an eight month trial, in which Harry, Prince William, and Kate Middleton were all named among the victims.
The trial led to what was called the Leveson Inquiry, which reviewed the ethics of the British media and made recommendations for tightening up its practices. However, the government declined to implement the required legislation for this, and ended up dropping the second part of the inquiry altogether.
Now, days after releasing a sharply-worded letter blasting the press for “unlawfully” vilifying his wife Meghan Markle by publishing a private letter she sent to her father, the Prince is prepared to take matters into his own hands.
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A spokesperson for News Group Newspapers (NGN) – the publishers of the Sun and the News of The World – confirmed to BBC “a claim has been issued by the Duke of Sussex.”
But Harry’s also suing the publishers of The Mirror over alleged unlawful reporting activities that date back to when Piers Morgan (dun-dun-dun) served as editor for the publication.
Despite admissions by Mirror Group that the Daily Mirror was hacking on the reg while Morgan was editor there, the controversial journalist repeatedly denied knowing his reporters were hacking back in 2011 during the Leveson Inquiry. Even though he was said to be very close to his reporters. Hmmm.
All that said, it’s not very surprising Morgan attacked Harry on Twitter and in his column in the MailOnline, which was headlined:
“Stop playing the victim, Harry – you and Meghan brought the negative press on yourselves, and just when you turn things around, you ruin it all.”
Sounds like he’s hoping Harry’s claim doesn’t go all the way to trial; because if it does, Morgan will likely have to take the stand and give evidence in defense of his actions as an editor.
Basically, Harry’s war on the UK press is just getting started — and it sounds like they’re a bit nervous about it!
Which side do U stand on, Perezcious readers?
[Image via WENN]
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