Ibrahim
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Prince Harry has been awarded $180,000 (£140,600) in damages after London's High Court ruled that he was the victim of phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).
Mr Justice Fancourt ruled on Friday that there was "extensive" phone hacking by MGN from 2006 to 2011, "even to some extent" during the Leveson Inquiry into media standards.
The judge ruled that 15 of the 33 Prince Harry articles submitted for the case were "the product of phone hacking of his mobile phone or the mobile phones of his associates, or the product of other unlawful information-gathering".
"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," he added in a summary of his ruling, reports BBC News. "However, it did happen on occasions from about the end of 2003 to April 2009 (which was the date of the last article that I examined)."
Speaking outside the court, Harry's lawyer, David Sherborne, read out a speech from the Duke of Sussex.
"Today is a great day for truth as well as accountability," he began. "The court has ruled that unlawful and criminal activities were carried out at all three Mirror Group Newspaper titles - the Mirror, the Sunday Mirror and the People - on a habitual and widespread basis for over more than a decade.
"This case is not just about a hacking. It is about a systemic practice of unlawful and appalling behaviour followed by cover-ups and obstruction of evidence, the shocking scale of which can only be revealed through these proceedings."
He concluded, "I hope that the court's findings will serve as a warning to all media organisations who have employed these practices and then similarly lied about them."
In his speech, Harry also singled out former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan, claiming he was one of the people who "clearly knew about or were involved in these illegal activities".
A spokesperson for MGN said in a statement, "Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologise unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation."
Mr Justice Fancourt ruled on Friday that there was "extensive" phone hacking by MGN from 2006 to 2011, "even to some extent" during the Leveson Inquiry into media standards.
The judge ruled that 15 of the 33 Prince Harry articles submitted for the case were "the product of phone hacking of his mobile phone or the mobile phones of his associates, or the product of other unlawful information-gathering".
"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," he added in a summary of his ruling, reports BBC News. "However, it did happen on occasions from about the end of 2003 to April 2009 (which was the date of the last article that I examined)."
Speaking outside the court, Harry's lawyer, David Sherborne, read out a speech from the Duke of Sussex.
"Today is a great day for truth as well as accountability," he began. "The court has ruled that unlawful and criminal activities were carried out at all three Mirror Group Newspaper titles - the Mirror, the Sunday Mirror and the People - on a habitual and widespread basis for over more than a decade.
"This case is not just about a hacking. It is about a systemic practice of unlawful and appalling behaviour followed by cover-ups and obstruction of evidence, the shocking scale of which can only be revealed through these proceedings."
He concluded, "I hope that the court's findings will serve as a warning to all media organisations who have employed these practices and then similarly lied about them."
In his speech, Harry also singled out former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan, claiming he was one of the people who "clearly knew about or were involved in these illegal activities".
A spokesperson for MGN said in a statement, "Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologise unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation."