Prince Harry shades King Charles in official statement after lawsuit win

Prince Harry seemingly took a subtle swipe at his estranged father King Charles in his official statement after winning phone hacking trial against Mirror Group Newspapers.

The Duke of Sussex received £140,000 ($180,000) in damages after High Court judge Justice Timothy Fancourt ruled in favor of the former royal’s lawsuit claiming the publisher of the Daily Mirror resorted to unlawful means, including hacking phones to retrieve information for their articles.

In a statement relayed by Harry’s lawyer David Sherbourne on his behalf outside the High Court, he described the ruling as “vindicating” and “affirming,” adding that, “I’ve been told that slaying dragons will get you burned but in light of today’s victory and the importance of doing what is needed for a free and honest press, it is a worthwhile price to pay.”

The aforementioned part of the duke’s lengthy statement caught the public’s eye, who believed it to be a shade at the 75-year-old monarch, who allegedly told Harry that his phone hacking trial was a “suicide mission.”

Also Read: Prince Harry reacts to 'momentous' win against the Daily Mirror

Prince Harry detailed the conversation with his father from the funeral of Prince Philip in 2021 in his memoir, Spare.

He noted that instead of asking about his family, specifically wife Meghan Markle, with whom the royal son had just moved to California a year prior, Harry affirmed Charles and Prince William “were keen to know how my lawsuit was going, because that directly affected them.”

“Still ongoing. Suicide mission, Pa mumbled. Maybe. But it’s worth it,” wrote the Invictus Games mogul.

“I’d soon prove that the press were more than liars, I said. That they were lawbreakers. I was going to see some of them thrown into jail. That was why they were attacking me so viciously: they knew I had hard evidence. It wasn’t about me, it was a matter of public interest,” Harry added.