TODAY’S TALKER

Investigator says he skirted laws to get info on Duchess for tabloid

LONDON — Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, said that an investigation into how a British tabloid obtained personal details about the duchess shows there are still “predatory practises” within British news media.

Their statement follows an investigation by Byline Investigates into how the Sun tabloid hired an American private investigator, who says he unlawfully handed over personal details about Meghan Markle when she fifirst started dating Harry. Byline Investigates teamed up with the BBC and The New York Times to publish the investigative report Thursday night.

Daniel Hanks, 74, a veteran private investigator also known as “Danno,” said he unlawfully accessed details about Meghan, including her Social Security number, as well as details on people in her life. He says he sold this information to the Sun.

In a statement, the Sun’s publisher said it had made a “legitimate” request for information from Hanks, and stressed that he was not asked to do “anything illegal or breach any privacy laws.”

A spokesman for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said “today is an important moment of reflflection for the media industry and society at large, as investigative report shows that the predatory practices of days past are still ongoing, reaping irreversible damage for families and relationships.”

Hanks told The Washington Post in a phone interview he wasn’t aware who Meghan Markle when he said the Sun’s U. S. editor James Beal commissioned the research in 2016.

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