‘Illegal’ Duke of Sussex story was already in public domain
‘Eton Trifles’ article based on interview Harry gave to mark 18th birthday, Mirror publisher tells High Court
‘There are no proximate invoices. There is no evidence of voicemail interception’
A TABLOID story that the Duke of Sussex alleged was obtained unlawfully came from an interview he gave himself to mark his 18th birthday, High Court documents suggest.
The Duke is suing the publisher of the Daily Mirror, claiming he was the victim of unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking.
Prince Harry put forward 140 articles published in the Daily Mirror, the Sunday Mirror and The People between 1996 and 2010, which he alleged were obtained through illegal means.
Of those, 33 have been selected as a sample on which to base his case.
On the shortlist is a story published on Sept 16, 2002, with the headline, “No Eton Trifles for Harry, 18”.
Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) argues that the information came from an interview given by the Duke to the Press Association news agency to mark his 18th birthday the previous day.
The publisher suggested in court documents that the interview was arranged by the Duke’s PR advisers as part of an exercise to rehabilitate his image, following his earlier involvement with drug taking.
It was released to the media under embargo to run on Sunday, Sept 15, and different versions were published in most newspapers.
A further article, published by the Press Association on Sept 15, the Duke’s birthday, stated that he would be spending the day at Highgrove, his father’s Gloucestershire home.
Later that evening, a picture agency filed an image of the Duke “entering Highgrove on his 18th birthday, driven by his friend, Guy Pelly”.
The 161-word article, published in the Daily Mirror on Monday, Sept 16, “simply repeated the details that the claimant had given: that he would be having no party, that he would be spending the day with his brother and father, and that his uncle gave him golf clubs”, MGN has argued. It added: “There are no proximate invoices. There is no evidence of voicemail interception.”
In the interview, the Duke said of his birthday plans: “I’m not having a party or anything. It will be a quiet day at home with my father and my brother – my family.” He also disclosed that Earl Spencer had given him some golf clubs, adding: “I’m not obsessed by golf. I play it occasionally, but I don’t want to play it professionally.”
The interview came after Prince Harry admitted smoking cannabis and drinking to excess, saying: “That was a mistake and I learned my lesson.”
Among the other articles that the Duke will rely on in the seven-week trial is a story in the Daily Mirror on Monday, Sep 16, 1996, which suggested the late Diana, Princess of Wales looked “sad and upset” after a brief 20-minute visit to see Prince Harry at Ludgrove school, Berks, to mark his 12th birthday.
MGN said the fact that the late Princess was visiting her son had been confirmed publicly by her spokesperson, while members of the public had also seen her.
It argued that the Duke had no reasonable expectation of privacy in respect of the information that he was thought to be taking the divorce “badly” because his mother had spoken publicly about his reaction in her now-infamous 1995 interview with Panorama.
A third story, published on Nov 11, 2000, revealed that the Duke had broken his thumb. MGN said the information was put in the public domain by the Palace and had been reported by several newspapers the previous day.
David Sherborne, the Duke’s barrister, told the High Court yesterday that unlawful information-gathering was authorised “at the highest levels” at MGN. He said: “We say the case goes higher than just the journalists. The condoning of these activities meant these journalists were able to continue them at this widespread level.”