Prince Harry, who has been embroiled in legal battles against British tabloids, said his 鈥榤ission鈥� against them partly caused his rift with the royal family, in an interview aired Thursday.
The younger son of King Charles III has brought a number of court cases against tabloids which he, alongside other public figures, accuses of illegally collecting information.
Beyond the legal proceedings, the Duke of Sussex, as he is also known, has expressed anger at the mistreatment of his wife Meghan by the popular press.
He has long considered them responsible for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, in a car accident in Paris in 1997.
In December last year, Harry, 39, secured a ruling in his favour against MGN, the publisher of the Daily Mirror, for phone hacking, which he said was a 鈥榤onumental victory鈥�.
鈥楾o have the judge rule in our favour was obviously huge,鈥� Harry, 39, told a new ITV documentary, 鈥楾abloids on Trial鈥�.
鈥楤ut for him to go as far as he did... this wasn鈥檛 just the (fault of) individual people. This went right up to the top. This was lawyers, this was high executives,鈥� added the prince, who made a surprise appearance in court to testify in the case.
Harry was awarded more than 拢140,000 ($180,000) in damages after the trial, and reached a financial settlement over remaining claims against MGN.
He has also filed a similar lawsuit against NGN, publisher of tabloid The Sun, which denies the accusations.
That trial is set to take place next year.
Harry has however dropped libel claims against the group that publishes the Mail on Sunday for its reporting on his police protection.
The former British Army captain, who quit royal duties and moved to North America in 2020, said his mother鈥檚 hounding by the tabloids helped motivate him in his legal battle.
鈥淔or me, the mission continues鈥�.
Other celebrities who have launched legal action against tabloids, including British actor Hugh Grant, also opens up in the documentary.
The 鈥淔our Weddings and a Funeral鈥� actor described how microphones were placed in windows outside his house, with mics and trackers dropped into his car.
Grant recently reached a financial settlement with NGN to end legal proceedings after being advised of the hefty legal bill he could have to pay if he went to trial.
NGN has denied accusations of wrongdoing at The Sun.
