Prince Harry Reveals British Media Feud as “Central Piece” of Royal Family Rift | Vanity Fair

Prince Harry has spoken about his “monumental victory” over the publisher of the Daily Mirror in a documentary about the UK media that airs Thursday.

Prince Harry won damages in his hacking case in December 2023 but has not spoken about the case until now. In ITV’s Tabloids on Trial, Harry said, “To go in there and come out and have the judge rule in our favor was obviously huge…. That’s a monumental victory.”

He also spoke about how his decision to take on the UK tabloids through the British courts has contributed to the rift between him and his family, with his father, King Charles, having warned him not to take on the British media.

Asked if his decision had destroyed the relationship with his family, Harry said, “Yeah, that’s certainly a central piece to it. But, you know, that’s a hard question to answer because anything I say about my family results in a torrent of abuse from the press.”

He continued: “I’ve made it very clear that this is something that needs to be done. It would be nice if we, you know, did it as a family. I believe that, again, from a service standpoint and when you are in a public role, that these are the things that we should be doing for the greater good. But, you know, I’m doing this for my reasons.”

In his memoir, Spare, Prince Harry claimed King Charles warned him that taking on the British media was a “suicide mission” after Harry said he was still pursuing his hacking lawsuit.

Meanwhile, Harry’s brother, Prince William, accepted an unspecified settlement, undisclosed at the time, from the publisher of the Sun newspaper over a phone-hacking claim several years ago. Prince William reportedly received a large sum in 2020 from Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper empire.

Prince Harry, however, has a number of high-profile court cases due to go to trial. Following his victory in the courts against Mirror Group Newspapers, Harry is separately pursuing the publishers of The Sun and the Daily Mail for allegedly using unlawful means to obtain information. (Both publishers have denied the allegations against them.)

Asked what he thought of the royal family’s decision not to fight in the way he has, he replied: “I think everything that’s played out has shown people what the truth of the matter is. For me, the mission continues, but it has—yes, it’s caused, as you say, part of a rift.”

A judge ruled that 15 out of 33 Mirror Group Newspapers articles provided as samples—including stories about a past girlfriend, a conversation with his brother, and his time in the army and Afghanistan—were all likely the result of phone hacking, so-called blagging, or other illegal activities.

“When you’re vindicated,” Prince Harry told me, “it proves that you weren’t being paranoid.”