Global Courant 2023-04-28 00:32:00
LONDON –
A lawyer for the publisher of the tabloid The Sun used Prince Harry’s own words on Thursday to plead his lawsuit over phone hacking.
Attorney Anthony Hudson said emails from the Duke of Sussex to the royal family’s chief spokesperson indicated he was aware of the allegations against the publisher well enough that he could have launched a lawsuit in a timely manner.
Harry first noticed that one of his voicemails had been intercepted in 2006 and knew he had to file a claim in 2012, Hudson said.
But the prince only began pressuring Buckingham Palace in late 2017 and early 2018 to pressure the British newspaper arm of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire to apologize for hacking his phone.
“There must be an ultimatum or this institution and everything it stands for will become a laughingstock,” the Duke of Sussex emailed the royal family’s chief spokesman in February 2018, according to court documents.
After a three-day Supreme Court hearing, Hudson asked a judge to throw out the hacking lawsuits brought by Harry and actor Hugh Grant, arguing that they had sufficient knowledge to make claims within a six-year term.
“It’s completely hopeless, unrealistic and fanciful to suggest they couldn’t have started the claims they’ve been making since then,” Hudson said.
Judge Timothy Fancourt said he would rule at a later date.
Attorney David Sherborne argued that the two knew about hacking by a rogue reporter at the former News Of The World, which Murdoch owned, but did not realize how widespread the interceptions were until a much larger scandal erupted in 2011 that the newspaper drove out. of business.
They were prevented from hearing about snooping by The Sun, another Murdoch newspaper, because News Group Newspapers executives concealed evidence and lied, Sherborne said. He argued that the cover-up created an exception to the time limit for filing the lawsuit.
Sherborne also argued that Harry could not bring a case because of a “secret agreement” the royal family had with Murdoch’s company. The alleged agreement was designed to avoid the royals having to testify in court and face embarrassing evidence, Harry said.
Harry said he was told he could not sue because the deal – approved by the late Queen Elizabeth II – called for News Group to settle and issue an apology to the royal family after settling her other lawsuits in the voicemail hacking scandal.
Fancourt said he was troubled by what appeared to be a “factual inconsistency” between Harry’s claim that he had no knowledge to file a lawsuit prior to 2019 and the Prince’s claim that he would have filed a case in 2012 if the secret agreement had not existed. .
But Sherborne said he didn’t have enough knowledge in 2012 to make the claim he eventually filed because he only knew about one hacking incident.
When it emerged that News Group was slowing down, Harry got fed up and filed a lawsuit against the company in 2019. It is one of three phone hacking cases he has pending against the British tabloid publishers.
News Group denied the existence of a secret agreement, saying The Sun “accepts no liability and does not admit to the allegations”.
Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment on the alleged agreement.
