Published July 08, 2026
Prince Harry was forced to maintain composure during the 14th Invictus Games Foundation Conversation at Chatham House in London as he was delivered the news of the brutal verdict in the phone hacking case.
The Duke of Sussex is in UK for a five-day visit to conduct official and private engagements especially concerning the Invictus Games. On Tuesday, Harry was left in shock over the “whitewashed” decision by the court, as he released a scathing statement along with claimant Baroness Doreen Lawrence.
They noted that they sought “justice and accountability” but received neither from the court.
“This judgment represents a complete reversal of the position which previous judges have taken in relation to the hacking claims successfully brought against both News Group Newspapers and Mirror Group Newspapers, who were represented by, at the time, the judge who made this decision,” the statement read.
“Generic findings about various private investigators that were held by the courts in these parallel claims to have carried out unlawful activity at the very same time in relation to similar stories and well-known individuals have been wholly ignored.”
Harry and Doreen slammed the court for “inconsistency” as they chose to dismiss the evidence presented during the hearings.
“It is a complete and obvious whitewash, but sadly not altogether unexpected. However, the lengths to which the court has gone to exonerate the Mail is as shocking as it is totally unwarranted,” they continued.
“When the court says there is not sufficient evidence of wrongdoing, despite the documents showing otherwise, then one does wonder how justice was ever going to be achieved.”
They added that it “feels here like one rule for the newspapers and another for the claimants”.
Harry and Doreen concluded the statement by thanking their legal time for the hard and the witnesses for being “brave enough to come forward in the pursuit of justice”.