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WorldPrince Harry receives apology from the Mirror Publisher for having an investigator...

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Prince Harry receives apology from the Mirror Publisher for having an investigator follow him

The Duke of Sussex has received a “unreserved” apology from The Mirror’s publisher for illegally obtaining material.

A number of prominent people, including Prince Harry, are suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for damages related to alleged illegal information collecting.

The accusations are disputed by MGN, the company that publishes The Mirror, the Sunday Mirror, and Sunday People, on the grounds that some of them were made too late.

But the publisher’s attorney, Andrew Green KC, “unreservedly apologises” to the duke for one instance of illegal information collection during the trial on Wednesday.

He said the group accepts he was entitled to ‘appropriate compensation’.

MGN admitted that a private investigator was instructed by a journalist at The People to unlawfully gather information about his activities at the Chinawhite nightclub one night in February 2004.

‘Otherwise, the specified allegations are denied, or in a few cases not admitted,’ Mr Green added.

There was a payment of £75 made in February 2004 which Mr Green said: ‘It is admitted that this represented an instruction to engage in unlawful information gathering, and MGN unreservedly apologises and accepts that the Duke of Sussex is entitled to appropriate compensation for it.

‘MGN does not know what information this related to, although it clearly had some connection with his conduct at the nightclub.’

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock (13906698a) NIKKI SANDERSON arrives at High Court in London ahead of phone hacking trial against Mirror Group Newspapers Nikki Sanderson arrives at High Court for lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers, London, England, United Kingdom - 10 May 2023
Nikki Sanderson is also bringing a claim against MGN (Picture: Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)

An article published in The People that month ‘gave the recollection of a woman Harry spent time with at the club’, but Mr Green added: ‘The Duke of Sussex notably does not claim in relation to this article, so it is not alleged that this instruction led to the publication of his private information.

‘The fee paid, £75, suggests little work was involved.’

Coronation Street actors Nikki Sanderson and Michael Turner, known professionally as Michael Le Vell, and comedian Paul Whitehouse’s ex-wife Fiona Wightman are all expected to give evidence during the trial.

The trial, which started on Wednesday, is due to last six to seven weeks.

MGN denies voicemail interception in all four cases and said there was ‘no evidence or no sufficient evidence’.

Mr Green continued: ‘There is some evidence of the instruction of third parties to engage in other types of unlawful information gathering in respect of each of the claimants, save for Mr Turner whose claim is entirely denied, and MGN has made pleaded admissions in respect thereof.

‘MGN unreservedly apologises for all such instances of unlawful information gathering, and assures the claimants that such conduct will never be repeated.’

At the start of the hearing in London, barrister David Sherborne, who represents the duke and others, said the case featured unlawful activities on an ‘industrial scale carried out across three newspapers over a period of about 20 years or so’.

Mr Sherbourne said Harry’s case covered the period 1995 to 2011 as tabloid interest in the royal family increased following the divorce of his parents, now-King Charles and Princess Diana, and her ‘untimely death’ in 1997.

He added: ‘We all remember the images of him walking behind his mother’s coffin.

‘From that moment on, as a schoolboy and from his career in the army and as a young adult he was subjected, it was clear, to the most intrusive methods of obtaining his personal information.’

An MGN spokesman said: ‘Where historical wrongdoing has taken place we have made admissions, take full responsibility and apologise unreservedly, but we will vigorously defend against allegations of wrongdoing where our journalists acted lawfully.

‘MGN is now part of a very different company.

‘We are committed to acting with integrity and our objective in this trial is to allow both the business and our journalists to move forward from events that took place many years ago.’

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