In a significant legal development, Justice Timothy Fancourt delivered a verdict revealing that newspapers had engaged in “extensive” phone hacking of celebrities from 2006 to 2011.

London: On Friday, a UK judge declared Prince Harry a victim of phone hacking by reporters with Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN). He awarded him £140,600 in damages. The judge, ruling in his favor for 15 of the 33 articles Harry presented as evidence, found MGN, publishers of The Mirror, Sunday Mirror, and Sunday People, had indeed violated his privacy. This ruling marked a significant victory for Harry in his ongoing legal battle against MGN’s alleged misconduct, as per a report by NDTV.

Justice Timothy Fancourt Delivers Verdict

In a significant legal development, Justice Timothy Fancourt delivered a verdict revealing that newspapers had engaged in “extensive” phone hacking of celebrities from 2006 to 2011. This revelation occurred despite an ongoing public inquiry into the conduct of the British press, underscoring the magnitude of the breach of privacy and the persistence of these invasive practices, the report said.

Statement From MGN

In a statement, the MGN spokesperson said: “Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologise unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation.”

In a historic turn of events, Prince Harry, the younger son of King Charles III, made headlines as he became the first British royal in over a century to testify in a court trial. The precedent for such royal involvement dates back to the 1890s when the future King Edward VII took the witness stand in a slander trial.

“I consider that his phone was only hacked to a modest extent, and that this was probably carefully controlled by certain people at each newspaper,” Fancourt said.

Prince Harry said in a statement and called the court hearing “vindicating and affirming”. In a statement, the MGN spokesperson said: “Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologise unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation.”

The 39-year-old prince delivered emotional testimony, accusing a publisher of engaging in “industrial scale” phone hacking. During his appearance, Harry recounted distressing episodes from his life and asserted that he had been a victim of relentless media intrusion throughout virtually his entire existence.