In December, Prince Harry won his hacking lawsuit against the Mirror Group, publishers of the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror. Piers Morgan used to be editor of the Mirror, and Piers was a hit dog hollering after Harry’s victory, which should tell you a lot about how far back all of this goes. What I sort of forgot about Harry’s case is that the judge determined that Harry’s case should go to trial in a piecemeal fashion – Harry originally wanted 148 Mirror articles adjudicated, but the judge decided to only hear about 33 articles in the first wave. In December, the judge found that 15 out of 33 articles were the result of unlawful activity, mostly hacking. That still leaves 115 articles left to adjudicate. Apparently, the Mirror is already offering an out-of-court settlement, but Harry is in a position of strength and he’s prepared to testify yet again:

The Duke of Sussex is considering further legal action against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) if he is not awarded appropriate damages following his “overwhelmingly successful” High Court victory against the publisher. The Duke sued the newspaper group over 148 articles he alleged had been obtained illegally, revealing, when he gave evidence last June, that he was motivated by a desire to protect his wife, Meghan.

He was awarded £140,600 in damages after the judge found that 15 of 33 articles selected for examination at trial were the product of phone hacking or unlawful information gathering. The ruling, handed down in December, prompted the Duke to hail himself a “dragon slayer” as he vowed to continue his crusade against the tabloid press.

As the case returned to the High Court on Monday, it emerged that no agreement had yet been made concerning potential damages for the outstanding 115 stories that comprised his claim. They include reports about his relationship with Chelsy Davy, his former girlfriend, and his military career, which he believes were obtained illegally. It emerged in court that MGN had offered to settle his claim pre-trial. Roger Mallalieu KC, for MGN, revealed in court documents that “offers have been made” to Prince Harry but insisted that the terms remained secret.

David Sherborne, the Duke’s barrister, suggested that although attempts would be made to resolve the remainder of his claim through agreement, his client was prepared to return to the witness box if necessary. He pointed out that only a quarter of his case had been determined, with 115 articles still to be tried.

“Although the Duke is certainly prepared to attempt to resolve the remainder of his claim through agreement, it is necessary to list of the trial of the remainder of his claim as soon as is practicable, in order that his claim, which was issued almost four-and-a-half years ago in September 2019, may be fully determined if agreement is not reached,” he said.

The barrister said a further trial would likely take up to 10 days, depending on the number of witnesses called by MGN. “There is no reason why the Duke’s claim should wait until determination of any appeal, which would not affect his claim,” he added.

Both MGN and the Duke agreed that his costs should be reserved pending resolution on the outstanding articles. Mr Mallalieu said: “Whilst the Duke of Sussex has been awarded damages of £140,600, his claim has not yet concluded.”

[From The Telegraph]

I can only imagine the pittance the Mirror has offered as a “settlement,” which is probably why Harry and his lawyers haven’t really engaged with serious settlement talks yet. Originally, the Mirror offered to pay damages of something like $500 for their relentless, decades-long criminal activities, hacking, blagging, stalking, harassing. Also: the Mirror is going to end up paying Harry’s legal fees too, I’m pretty sure. Anyway, I hope Harry keeps suing everybody!

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.