Mirror phone hacking case; how much could Harry, Duke of Sussex, get in a settlement should he win?

Just like that, Harry has completed his time in the witness box at London’s high court in the high-profile case against the Mirror Group Newspapers, with former royal correspondent Jane Kerr currently getting grilled by David Sherborne. But just because Harry has finished his time as he jets off back to Montecito, it doesn’t mean the trial is over by any means.

Around 100 people have given witness statements in the collective case against MGN, with names including Cheryl Cole and Ian Wright also involved in the proceedings. Though as of yet, any of the other names involved have yet to be revealed as appearing at the high court like Harry did.

It does beg the question - should Harry win, along with the other people involved with the filing against the publisher, how much would he walk away with from a settlement. That also begs the second question, equally as important - how much would Harry lose if the burden of proof against the Mirror Groups Newspapers isn’t enough to convince Justice Fancourt - who is no stranger to phone hacking cases given his residing over a claim against News UK back in 2021 by, among others, Sienna Miller and former footballer Paul Gascoigne.

In that case, the amount that was settled to those parties, including Miller, was said to be “substantial.” In a previous phone hacking case Miller went to court over in 2011, the figure she settled for was said to be £100,000 - but her counsel were looking for a settle around the £400,000 mark, which the presiding judge in that case, Mr Justice Vos, agreed with the paper’s lawyer, Michael Silverleaf QC, was an “ludicrous amount” (to quote the QC.)

Given that the implication this time around is that the press intrusion led to a diminished state of mental health, especially during Harry’s testimony frequently mentioned how the press intrusion fostered a lack of trust with his circles of friends as he believed some of them were selling stories, and of course adjusting for inflation, could we expect to see another six-figure sum settlement for all involved?

The grand total for that 2021 phone hacking case against News UK was said to be £50 million GBP, but that amount has not been broken down into how much each plaintiff received, but looking also at another case involving a celebrity and a newspaper, David Beckham and the News of the World in 2004, who also settled for a “substantial” amount, we could easily see Harry netting a six-figure sum should the burden of proof be strong enough for him, and the others involved, winning this court case.

If we were pushed for a figure to speculate on, and given (with all respect to her) Sienna Miller’s standing compared to the global recognition of Harry, perhaps that “ludicrous” amount of £400,000 might not be so ridiculous in this situation.