Brand-new toys from Disney, Marvel and more!

Open menu

  • Video
  • Shop
  • Culture
  • Family
  • Wellness
  • Food
  • Living
  • Style
  • Travel
  • News
  • Book Club
  • GMA3: WYNTK
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your US State Privacy Rights
  • Children's Online Privacy Policy
  • Interest-Based Ads
  • Terms of Use
  • Do Not Sell My Info
  • Contact Us
  • © 2023 ABC News
  • Culture

Prince Harry takes legal action against tabloids over 'illegal interception of voicemail messages'

VIDEO:
2:29
Meghan opens up about missing Harry during brief time apart in Africa
ABCNews.com
ByKatie Kindelan
October 04, 2019, 6:46 pm

Prince Harry's battle against several media outlets in the U.K. appears to be growing.

Buckingham Palace confirmed Friday that Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has started legal action with regard to "the illegal interception of voicemail messages."

The palace did not provide any further details, noting that the "particulars of the claims are not yet public."

News Group Newspapers (NGN), the Rupert Murdoch-owned company that publishes The Sun and previously published now-defunct News of The World, later confirmed "that a claim has been issued by the Duke of Sussex.”

Prince Harry is also taking aim at another British tabloid, the Daily Mirror.

According to a court listing, a claim was filed on Sept. 27 by the prince against MGN Limited, the owner of the Daily Mirror. When contacted by ABC News, the Daily Mirror declined to comment on the proceedings.

(MORE: Prince Harry retraces his mom Princess Diana's footsteps at Angola landmine field)

Editor’s Picks

Prince Harry and Meghan dance and greet kids as they kick off South Africa tour

  • Sep 23, 2019

Duchess Meghan goes back to college in South Africa to support girls' access to education

  • Oct 01, 2019

Why Prince Harry is urging everyone to 'look up' as he continues South Africa tour with Meghan

  • Sep 30, 2019

The lawsuit is reported to include allegations that the papers' reporters and private investigators accessed voicemails of Harry's late mother Princess Diana, including ones he left her when he was a child. Neither the palace nor the newspapers are addressing the specific allegations in the lawsuit.

The new claims filed by Harry are reminiscent of the telephone hacking scandal that engulfed several British tabloids a decade ago, according to ABC News' royal contributor Omid Scobie. News of the World was shuttered in 2011 as a result of the hacking scandal that extended to the British government and saw a reporter from the outlet accused of hacking the voicemail of aides to the royal family.

Prince Harry, now 35, was in his 20s and years away from meeting his future wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, when the hacking scandal unfolded.

Now a husband and a dad who earlier this week announced legal action against another British tabloid, the Mail on Sunday, Harry is using his platform to take on the British press.

"For Harry this comes after three years of what he says is a relentless campaign by some of the British tabloids to damage the reputation of his wife through insulting commentary pieces, negative stories and false gossip," said Scobie. "This is a man who feels emboldened to take on three of the most-read newspapers in the country and fight for what he believes is right."

"Harry and Meghan really want to draw a line to say, 'Enough is enough.' They will not tolerate the abuse anymore," he added.

The Mail on Sunday, the subject of the lawsuit announced on Tuesday, published a letter in February that Meghan is said to have written to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, after he missed her May 2018 wedding to Harry.

Events surrounding the couple's wedding are said to have led to Meghan's estrangement from her father, who bowed out of walking Meghan down the aisle at St. George's Chapel amid a paparazzi scandal and a reported heart attack.

Harry and Meghan sought legal advice immediately after Meghan's letter was published in the Mail on Sunday, according to Scobie.

"This industry of 'fast' news is incredibly toxic and I think Harry wants to change this, not just for himself and his wife, but for the entire royal family in general and the future members of the royal family like the Cambridge children and Archie," he said. "This is Harry feeling confident enough to take on what he sees as dark force."

A Mail on Sunday spokesman said in a statement in response to the Sussexes' legal claim, "The Mail on Sunday stands by the story it published and will be defending this case vigorously. Specifically, we categorically deny that the duchess's letter was edited in any way that changed its meaning."

Harry, whose mother, Princess Diana, died in a car crash in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi, delivered a passionate statement announcing the claim against the tabloid, describing Meghan as "one of the latest victims of a British tabloid press that wages campaigns against individuals with no thought to the consequences."

"Though this action may not be the safe one, it is the right one. Because my deepest fear is history repeating itself," Harry said. "I've seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. I lost my mother and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces."

(MORE: Prince Harry invokes Princess Diana's death in new legal action against British tabloid)

The legal claim against the Mail on Sunday was announced as Harry, Meghan and their nearly 5-month-old son, Archie, wrapped up a 10-day tour of South Africa during which the couple was widely praised. Harry called the mostly glowing coverage as an example of the "double standards" of the British tabloid press.

"The positive coverage of the past week from these same publications exposes the double standards of this specific press pack that has vilified her almost daily for the past nine months; they have been able to create lie after lie at her expense simply because she has not been visible while on maternity leave," he said. "She is the same woman she was a year ago on our wedding day, just as she is the same woman you've seen on this Africa tour."

Harry's statement offered a first glimpse for the public into how he and Meghan have been affected by the nonstop coverage of their relationship.

"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," he said, adding later in the statement, "I have been a silent witness to [Meghan's] private suffering for too long. To stand back and do nothing would be contrary to everything we believe in."

(MORE: Duchess Meghan goes back to college in South Africa to support girls' access to education)

Meghan has been a nonstop source of media attention since the start of her relationship with Harry, including being dubbed "Duchess Difficult" and said to be at the the center of a reported feud with William's wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge.

The Sun ran an article last November that claimed that Meghan made Kate cry at a bridesmaid's fitting for Kate's daughter, Princess Charlotte.

While Harry and Meghan were dating, Kensington Palace issued an unprecedented statement on behalf of Harry lambasting the "abuse and harassment" of Meghan by sections of the press, making particular note of the "racial undertones" of some coverage.

Harry and Meghan have seemed to increase efforts to maintain a level of privacy since their wedding and the birth in May of Archie, their first child.

They upended recent royal tradition by choosing to keep details of Archie's birth and christening private. They also chose to move from Kensington Palace in London to Frogmore Cottage, a more secluded home on the grounds of Windsor Castle.

Earlier this year Harry received an apology and won a court victory against paparazzi who took photos of his and Meghan's country home in Oxfordshire.

As part of the court agreement, Splash News, which chartered a helicopter to take the photos, agreed to pay what Buckingham Palace called a "substantial sum" in damages and legal costs.

Related Topics
  • Royal Family

Editor’s Picks

Prince Harry and Meghan dance and greet kids as they kick off South Africa tour

  • Sep 23, 2019

Duchess Meghan goes back to college in South Africa to support girls' access to education

  • Oct 01, 2019

Why Prince Harry is urging everyone to 'look up' as he continues South Africa tour with Meghan

  • Sep 30, 2019
Up Next in Culture—

Toby Keith gives update on stomach cancer battle: 'It's a little bit of a roller coaster'

September 29, 2023

Rob Gronkowski, Camille Kostek compete in live ice bath challenge to raise $20K for charity

September 29, 2023

Hear Wynonna Judd and Trisha Yearwood's reimagined version of 'Cry Myself to Sleep'

September 29, 2023

*NSYNC drops new song 'Better Place' from 'Trolls Band Together': Listen here

September 29, 2023

Up Next in Culture—

Toby Keith gives update on stomach cancer battle: 'It's a little bit of a roller coaster'

September 29, 2023

Rob Gronkowski, Camille Kostek compete in live ice bath challenge to raise $20K for charity

September 29, 2023

Hear Wynonna Judd and Trisha Yearwood's reimagined version of 'Cry Myself to Sleep'

September 29, 2023

*NSYNC drops new song 'Better Place' from 'Trolls Band Together': Listen here

September 29, 2023

The latest lifestyle and entertainment news and inspiration for how to live your best life - all from Good Morning America.
  • Contests
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Do Not Sell My Info
  • Children’s Online Privacy Policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Your US State Privacy Rights
  • Interest-Based Ads
  • About Nielsen Measurement
  • Press
  • Feedback
  • ABC News
  • ABC
  • All Videos
  • All Topics
  • Sitemap

© 2023 ABC News
  • Privacy Policy— 
  • Your US State Privacy Rights— 
  • Children's Online Privacy Policy— 
  • Interest-Based Ads— 
  • Terms of Use— 
  • Do Not Sell My Info— 
  • Contact Us— 

© 2023 ABC News