Former editor of the British tabloid The Daily Mirror, Piers Morgan, has launched a scathing verbal assault against Prince Harry following his victory in the High Court against the publisher of the paper.
"Prince Harry's outrage at media intrusion into the private lives of the royal family is only matched by his own ruthless, greedy and hypocritical enthusiasm for doing it himself. He talked today about the appalling behaviour of the press. But this is a guy who's repeatedly trashed his family in public for hundreds of millions of dollars, even as two of its most senior and respected members were dying, his grandparents. It's hard to imagine, frankly, more appalling behaviour than that."
That's not all Mr Morgan had to say.
"As for him saying this is a good day for truth, the Duke has been repeatedly exposed in recent years as someone who wouldn't know the truth if it slapped him around his California tanned face. He demands accountability for the press, but refuses to accept any for himself, by smearing the royal family, his own family as a bunch of callous racists without producing a shred of proof to support those disgraceful claims. He also says he's on a mission to reform the media when it's become clear his real mission, along with his wife, is to destroy the British monarchy. And I will continue to do whatever I can to stop them. Merry Christmas."
Harry was awarded over A$265,000 in the first of his several lawsuits against the tabloids to go to trial.
Justice Timothy Fancourt in the High Court found that phone hacking was “widespread and habitual” at Mirror Group Newspapers over many years and private investigators were an integral part of the system to gather information unlawfully.
He said executives at the papers were aware of the practice and covered it up.
Speaking following the judgment Mr Morgan, continued to deny any involvement in the matter.
"Today, a judge in the high court in London has ruled on various cases, including Prince Harry's claim against Mirror Group newspapers where I was an editor until 2004. The judgment finds there is just one article relating to the prince published in the Daily Mirror during my entire nine year tenure as editor that he thinks may have involved some unlawful information gathering. To be clear, I had then and still have zero knowledge of how that particular story was gathered. All his other claims against the Daily Mirror under my leadership were rejected."
Mr Morgan believes he should have been provided the opportunity by the court to at least make a statement.
"With regard to the judge's other references to me, in his judgment. I also want to reiterate, as I've consistently said for many years now, I've never hacked a phone or told anybody else to hack a phone, and nobody has produced any actual evidence to prove that I did. I wasn't called as a witness. It's important for people to know this, by either side in the case. Nor was I asked to provide any statement. I would have very happily agreed to do either or both of those things had I been asked. Nor did I have a single conversation with any of the Mirror Group lawyers throughout the entire legal process."
The case is the first of three lawsuits Harry has brought to court against the tabloids over allegations of phone hacking or some form of unlawful information gathering.
They form the front line of attack in what he says is his life’s mission to reform the media.
Prince Harry's lawyer David Sherborne spoke shortly after the ruling, reading out a statement from Prince Harry.
"The case is not just about hacking. It is about a systemic practice of unlawful and appalling behaviour, followed by cover ups and destruction of evidence, the shocking scale of which can only be revealed through these proceedings. The court has found that mirror group's principle board directors, their legal department, senior executives, and editors, such as Piers Morgan clearly knew about or were involved in these illegal activities. Between them they even went as far as lying under oath to Parliament."
In the statement Prince Harry also said he wants to see further legal action taken against the publishers.
"The acts listed in this judgment are prime examples of what happens when the power of the press is abused. I respectfully call upon the authorities to do their duty to the British public and to investigate bringing charges against the company and those who have broken the law."
The Duke of Sussex hopes the ruling will make those engaging in what he calls vendetta journalism, stop.
"The journey to justice can be a slow and painful one, and since bringing my claim almost five years ago, defamatory stories and intimidating tactics have been deployed against me and at my family's expense. And so as I too have learnt through this process, patience is in fact a virtue, especially in the face of vendetta journalism. I hope the court's findings will serve as a warning to all media organisations who have employed these practices and then similarly lied about them."
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has commented on the ruling.
“Yeah, look, I haven't seen that. You know, I believe obviously in a free and fair press, but also everyone needs to operate within the law. That's what anyone would expect. And that's exactly what, you know, this country's always been proud to stand by it.”
