Prince Harry has filed claims against the owners of two major U.K. tabloid newspapers for allegedly hacking his phone. A Buckingham Palace spokesperson confirmed to The Guardian that suits were filed against the Sun and the Daily Mirror “regarding the illegal interception of voicemail messages.†The claim, first reported by Byline Investigates, points to two separate suits: one against the Murdoch-owned News Group Newspapers, which owns the Sun, and another against the Mirror’s parent company, Reach Plc. It’s the second legal move that the Duke of Sussex has taken against the British tabloids in the past week. On Tuesday, it was announced that he and the Duchess of Sussex were taking legal action against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, for “the misuse of private information, infringement of copyright, and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018.†The claim, which is being filed by the Duchess, was announced in a statement from Prince Harry, who wrote that he had “been a silent witness to [Meghan’s] private suffering for too long.â€
British tabloids have churned out largely denigrating press coverage of the Duchess since she came into Prince Harry’s life several years ago. The coverage has been routinely mean-spirited and racially charged, so much so that, early in their relationship, Harry issued an appeal imploring them to end “the wave of abuse and harassment.†Likewise, Harry has his own history with the tabloids, and resents their treatment of his late mother. In his statement on Tuesday, Harry noted that he’s wary that Meghan’s treatment by the tabloids is mirroring Princess Diana’s: “I’ve seen what happens when someone I love is commoditized to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person. I lost my mother, and now I watch my wife falling victim to the same powerful forces.â€