A Win for Prince Harry in His Phone Hacking Lawsuits May Not Change Much, Commentator Says
Prince Harry’s in the middle of multiple phone hacking lawsuits involving British tabloids. However, a legal victory — and an appearance on the witness stand — may not see a transformation across the pond. A legal commentator believes if the Duke of Sussex wins his legal battles, the British media landscape may go unchanged.
Prince Harry’s ‘vehicle for change’ phone hacking lawsuits are unlikely to change the British media, commentator says
Tristan Kirk, a courts correspondent at the U.K.’s Evening Standard, explained during The Royal Report podcast’s June 13 episode how the British press might not change.
Host Jack Royston asked if it’s “possible to redraw the landscape of the British media in the modern era based on allegations that are rooted in the past?”
“In a word, No,” Kirk replied. “I think that you can tell from the way that Harry’s approached this and the other lawsuits. He sees this as a vehicle for change, as to say to newspapers: ‘You can’t do this anymore.’”
The press’s response, Kirk explained, hints at what’s to come. “The reaction of the newspapers in the modern day, to him giving evidence, is incredibly telling as to how this is going to go in the future.”
Media attention surrounding Harry is ‘never going to go away’ while phone hacking lawsuits have him ‘further into the spotlight’
Kirk continued, saying the media’s interest in Harry is “never” going to let up. As for the unlawful information-gathering techniques Harry claims British tabloids have used through the years, the correspondent believes interest in Harry won’t fade.
“I think, win or lose, Prince Harry is always going to be the center of media attention,” he said. “Both in the U.K. and abroad, particularly in America. That’s never going to go away.”
Meanwhile, publications, he added, don’t seem to be shifting tactics. “The newspapers are showing absolutely no sign of changing the way they go about this in terms of following around, intruding into people’s private life. And, particularly, Prince Harry, reporting every scrap of detail they can.”
In May 2023, Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, along with the Duchess of Sussex’s mother, Doria Ragland, were involved in what a rep for the couple described as a “near catastrophic car chase” in New York. Shortly after a photo agency refused to hand over footage from the incident to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
“Ever since he’s started waging this war in the courts against them, there’s just increasingly hostile coverage of his activities,” Kirk said of Harry. “So, he might want to redraw the landscape, but he’s actually putting himself even further into the spotlight by doing it. And it doesn’t look like there’s any sign from any of the major players in the media that that’s going to change whether this case goes one way or the other.”
A Prince Harry phone hacking lawsuit win may not be ‘relevant to the future’
Speaking on Harry’s Mirror Group Newspapers legal battle specifically, the courts correspondent shared that a win regarding decades-old events may not actually be “relevant to the future.”
“We’re talking about, you know, as far back as 1996,” he said. “We’re talking about pre-the death of Princess Diana when everything was supposed to change anyway.”
“If the judge comes back and says, ‘Well, yes, there’s been terrible behavior, unlawful activity back in the mid-’90s,’ then the newspapers will presumably — the ones that were responsible for that — turn around and say, ‘Well, yes there was, but that’s in the past. That’s something that’s not really relevant to the future.'”
Harry’s phone hacking lawsuits are ongoing. Meanwhile, he has a separate legal battle concerning U.K. security.
