Harry wins phone-hacking lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers

The high court in the United Kingdom (UK) ruled on Friday that Prince Harry was a victim of mobile phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) and was awarded 140,600 British pounds (179,000 U.S. dollars) in damages, reported Xinhua.

Judge Timothy Fancourt awarded the Duke of Sussex damages for 15 out of the 33 articles in question at trial that were "the product of phone hacking" of Harry's or his associates' mobile phones, or "the product of other unlawful information gathering."

After the judgment, Harry said in a statement that the ruling was "vindicating and affirming."

"I hope that the court's findings will serve as a warning to all media organizations who have employed these practices and then similarly lied about them," he said.

Harry was one of some 100 claimants who sued MGN, accusing the company of unlawful information gathering between 1991 and 2011.

MGN said in a statement after the judgment that they "apologize unreservedly" for "historical wrongdoing."

"We welcome today's judgment that gives the business the necessary clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago," a spokesperson for the group said.