In December, Prince Harry won his phone-hacking lawsuit against the Mirror Group. Because of the size and scope of the hacking claims, the judge wanted to do everything piecemeal, so Harry’s case was broken up into sections, given how many times he was hacked. He won one section, and in January, he promised to bring further action and testify again if the Mirror didn’t settle the rest of his claims. That promise must have scared the sh-t out of the Mirror and their lawyers, because in less than two weeks, they settled with Harry.

The Duke of Sussex has settled the remaining parts of his phone-hacking claim against the publisher of the Daily Mirror, the high court has heard.

Prince Harry, 39, sued Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for damages, claiming journalists at its publications were linked to methods including phone hacking, “blagging” – gaining information by deception – and use of private investigators for unlawful activities.

In December, a judge ruled that phone hacking became “widespread and habitual” at MGN titles in the late 1990s and was practised “even to some extent” during the Leveson inquiry into press standards in 2011.

Mr Justice Fancourt concluded Harry’s phone was hacked “to a modest extent” by MGN, awarding him £140,600 in damages.

Thirty-three articles from Harry’s claim were examined during the trial last year, of which 15 were found to have been the product of unlawful information gathering. A further 115 articles from his claim may have been the subject of a further trial. However, during a hearing in London on Friday, his barrister, David Sherborne, confirmed a settlement had been reached between the duke and MGN. He said the publisher would make an interim payment of £400,000.

A MGN spokesperson said: “We are pleased to have reached this agreement, which gives our business further clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago and for which we have apologised.”

[From The Guardian]

The “£400,000” figure is about to be touted far and wide, as if that’s the extent of the settlement. All of the reporting is making it clear that the figure is an “interim payment” though. Think of it as a down payment. The Mirror is putting their settlement on layaway. I would not be surprised if Harry refused to settle for anything less than £1 million, possibly even more than that give the scope of the Mirror’s criminal behavior. Anyway, well done to Harry. What a win! Now he’s got a million other lawsuits.

Harry’s statement is SO GOOD!!

BREAKING: Prince Harry's statement in full #DukeofSussexvMGN pic.twitter.com/rNQWPqqrJk

— Byline Investigates (@BInvestigates) February 9, 2024

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.