Piers Morgan Encouraged Illegal Targeting of Princess Diana, Prince Harry Once Claimed

In a shocking twist to the legal battles surrounding Prince Harry and the phone hacking case, the royal once leveled serious allegations against Piers Morgan, claiming that the former editor of the News of the World played a prominent role in the illegal targeting of his mother, Princess Diana. According to Prince Harry, Morgan not only knew about but also encouraged and concealed the unlawful practices that invaded Diana’s privacy in the mid-1990s. Prince Harry’s allegations suggested that journalists working for Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid newspapers obtained Diana’s private communications, including text messages and phone calls.

As per The Guardian, these illegally gathered pieces of information were allegedly used as the foundation for numerous stories back then in both The Sun and News of the World; Harry claimed they were fully aware of the illegal activities and took measures to hide them from public scrutiny. The court documents revealed that Prince Harry believed the illegal targeting wasn’t limited to his mother alone. At that time, he alleged that his father, now King Charles, and Camilla Parker Bowles were also victims of similar invasions of privacy, all under the watchful eye of Morgan and other tabloid editors.

As per The Independent, during that time these allegations reignited the controversy surrounding Morgan’s time as a tabloid editor, a role that allegations of unethical journalism practices have long tainted. Prince Harry claimed, “At no point did I have a girlfriend or a relationship with anyone without the tabloids getting involved and ultimately ruining it, or trying to ruin it, using whatever unlawful means at their disposal.” 

Morgan, who had since transitioned to television and even hosted a nightly show on Murdoch’s TalkTV at that time, had consistently denied any knowledge or involvement in phone hacking during his editorial tenure. During this incident, he tweeted, “Oh dear, are Prince Privacy’s recollections varying again? When is this permanently angry, narcissistic little twerp going to stop whining, stop suing, stop trashing his family, stop damaging the Monarchy, and just shut up?”

However, Prince Harry’s claims suggested otherwise, listing several articles published during Morgan’s time as editor that he believed were based on illegally obtained information. These articles included stories about Diana’s personal relationships, travels, and private meetings, all of which were sensitive and meant to remain confidential. After the hacking case was settled, Prince Harry released a statement and wrote, “This case is not just about hacking: it is about a systemic practice of unlawful and appalling behavior, followed by coverups and destruction of evidence, the shocking scale of which can only be revealed through these proceedings.”

One particularly damning piece of evidence highlighted in the court documents was a 21-page log of text messages sent to Diana’s secret personal pager in late 1994. These messages were allegedly found in a safe in the office of a top lawyer at Murdoch’s company. Prince Harry’s lawyers said in court documents, "The claimant also brings a claim and seeks relief in relation to the interception of landline calls, the interception of calls from cordless phones and analogue mobile calls, and the interception of landline voicemails, as distinct from phone hacking…(Princess Diana) was under close surveillance and her calls were being unlawfully intercepted by (NGN), which was known about by its editors and senior executives."