Piers Morgan Knew About Phone Hacking, Prince Harry's Lawsuit Hears

Piers Morgan was told his journalists held information that "had come from voicemails" during his time editing the Daily Mirror, a court has heard.

Prince Harry is alleging phone hacking and unlawful techniques at Mirror Group Newspapers, publisher of the U.K. tabloid, in a civil trial at the High Court, in London.

Omid Scobie, author of the Harry and Meghan Markle biography Finding Freedom, approached Harry's lawyers offering evidence. It allegedly tied Morgan to illegal acts at his newspaper. Morgan has previously denied phone hacking.

A filing by Harry's team, seen by Newsweek, reads: "As a journalism student [Scobie] spent a week at the showbiz desk of the Sunday People [another MGN title].

"He was given a list of mobile telephone [cellphone] numbers and a verbal description of how to listen to voicemails, as if it were a routine newsgathering technique," the filing adds.

"In April/May 2002 he did additional work experience on the Daily Mirror's 3AM
column. He recalls during one of those days in the office the Editor, Piers Morgan,
came over to talk to someone about a story relating to Kylie Minogue and her
boyfriend James Gooding.

"Mr Morgan asked how confident they were in the reporting, and was told that the information had come from voicemails," the filing states. "After informing the Claimants [Prince Harry and others who are suing] about this information, Mr Scobie found an article online dated 11 May 2002 which appears to relate to that discussion."

Scobie told the court he did not carry out the request to hack phones at the Sunday People viewing the practice as immoral.

In 2018, Harry and Meghan authorized an aide to supply information to Scobie's book, Finding Freedom, which he co-wrote with Carolyn Durand.

Morgan is a regular critic of the Sussexes, painting them as hypocrites who exploited the privacy of royal family members while protesting about their own.

Were Harry to win a ruling that Morgan was complicit in phone hacking, it would be a major triumph in their ongoing rivalry.

Harry's lawyers said in the court filing: "There is also clear evidence of 'board-adjacent' individuals (individuals in high-level management or executive roles who were in regular contact with and had direct reporting lines to the Board) being perfectly aware, in great detail, as to the extensive use of PIs [private investigators] by MGN journalists, and even aware of the illegal nature of the work being carried out by those PIs. One of these is Piers Morgan, the senior Editor in [the Mirror Group]."

The trial will also consider evidence that Jeremy Paxman, a respected British journalist, gave to the Leveson Inquiry, a 2011 probe into media ethics in Britain. This concerns a private lunch that Paxman attended with Morgan and celebrity Ulrika Jonsson, who had been the subject of an expose in Morgan's newspaper.

The filing read: "During the lunch, Mr Morgan admitted to those present that it was easy to access people's voicemail messages, and teased Ms Jonsson about the voicemail messages left for her which he had heard.

"Paxman considered Mr Morgan's teasing to be close to bullying on account of its persistence," the filing added.

"In response to Mr Paxman's evidence to the Leveson Inquiry, Mr Morgan publicly tweeted the words: 'Right—that's the last time I'm inviting Jeremy Paxman to lunch. Ungrateful little wretch.' Morgan's response demonstrates that he accepted that Paxman's account was true."

Harry will at some stage give evidence in London in the case, though this is likely to be in early June.

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.

Update 05/10/23, 9:05 a.m. ET: This article was updated to add that Omid Scobie said he did not carry out the request to hack phones at the Sunday People.