Piers Morgan 'Wouldn’t Even Know How to Hack a Phone' as Prince Harry's Trial Heats Up
Piers Morgan responded to Prince Harry's recent comments against him. The Duke of Sussex accused the broadcaster of breaking the law in an attempt to produce content during his time as an editor at Daily Mirror. "I’ve never hacked a phone. I’ve never told anybody to hack a phone," Morgan said according to court documents.
The broadcaster later expressed disdain for the act and said those who did it were simply "lazy journalists being lazy."
Attorney David Sherborne countered Morgan's response in court. "The systemic and widespread use of [private investigators] by Mirror Group Newspaper journalists to unlawfully obtain private information was authorized at senior levels," the legal professional said.
The Royal Observer previously reported the Spare author believes Morgan "must have known" that private investigators used "illegal methods" to obtain information.
Despite Morgan denying it, the publisher of Daily Mirror has admitted to being unethical while reporting on Harry. "MGN unreservedly apologizes for all such instances of UIG, and assures the claimants that such conduct will never be repeated," the court documents revealed.
The media conglomerate asserted that the confession wasn't to clear their name, but "because such conduct should never have occurred."
Throughout Harry's lawsuit, the royal rebel revealed the complex relationship the royal family has with the British press. "It was agreed directly between these parties, as opposed to their lawyers … that at the conclusion of the Mobile Telephone Voicemail Interception Litigation (MTVIL) News would admit or settle such a claim with an apology," Harry said. "In 2017, the claimant and the institution began to push for the outstanding claim to be resolved."
"However, News filibustered in relation to this until, in 2019, the claimant had enough and issued his claim," Harry's lawyer added.
The veteran later alluded to his relatives hiding information from him to sustain their connection to tabloids. "There was in place an agreement between the Institution and NGN that we would not engage, or even discuss, the possibility of bringing claims against NGN until the litigation against it relating to phone hacking was over," the author said, according to court documents.
"The Institution made it clear that we did not need to know anything about phone hacking and it was made clear to me that the royal family did not sit in the witness box because that could open up a can of worms," he added.
Morgan's statement was reported by The Independent.