Monday, September 16, 2024

Prince Harry takes part in new phone hacking documentary

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Prince Harry has taken part in a new ITV documentary on phone hacking, which will air in the UK later this month.

The Duke of Sussex spoke to reporter Rebecca Barry in a sit-down interview for Tabloids On Trial, which will also feature actor Hugh Grant, singer Charlotte Church and former footballer Paul Gascoigne.

According to ITV, the Duke reveals “his mission to continue his fight to expose the illegal tactics of Britain’s tabloid press, and explore what those in charge at Fleet Street really knew as this scandal unfolded”.

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Prince Harry has taken part in an ITV documentary on phone hacking, called Tabloids On Trial. (ITV)

It marks Prince Harry’s first interview since he won his case against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) last December, being awarded £140,600 (about $267,000) in compensation.

The end of the four-year legal battle found two directors had “turned a blind eye and positively concealed” unlawful information gathering in 15 of the 33 newspaper articles in question at trial.

Prince Harry became the first senior member of the British royal family to give evidence on a witness stand in more than 130 years when he appeared in the witness box last June.

From the stand, he told the courtroom the distress the press caused him during his youth, saying the articles published by the MGN played a “destructive role” in his adolescence.

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Prince Harry spoke to Rebecca Barry for the ITV documentary on phone hacking, called Tabloids On Trial.
Prince Harry spoke to Rebecca Barry for the ITV documentary, which will air in the UK on July 25. (ITV)

The documentary comes at a time the Duke of Sussex is still pursuing claims against two major British tabloid publishers: Associated Newspapers Limited, publisher of the Daily Mail; and News Group Newspapers (NGN), the publisher of The Sun.

The phone hacking scandal first erupted at NGN’s News of the World in 2011.

It’s alleged that between the late ’90s and mid ’00s, some of NGN’s journalists violated privacy of celebrities, royals and even victims of crime through widespread unlawful activity that included intercepting voicemails, tapping phones, bugging cars and using deception to access confidential information.

NGN issued an unreserved apology in 2011 to victims of voicemail interception by the News of the World, which closed its doors after the scandal.

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NGN said it has settled 1300 claims for its newspapers, though The Sun has never accepted liability.

“The phone-hacking scandal exposed a murky tabloid world where stealing secrets was big business and privacy, meaningless,” ITV said.

“It’s been almost two decades since the story broke and subsequent legal actions have revealed that hacking was apparently just the start, with victims accusing some of Britain’s biggest newspapers of tapping landlines, fitting properties with listening devices and even burglaries to order – in the name of journalism – allegations that have been strongly denied.”

– Reported with Associated Press.

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