Prince Harry was a victim of phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers

Prince Harry has been awarded $268,000 in damages after a court ruled his phone was hacked between 2003 and 2009.

Prince Harry was the victim of mobile phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), a court has ruled.

He was awarded £140,600 ($268,000) in damages at the High Court in London on Friday.

The Prince, along with a number of other celebrities, sued MGN, which publishes the UK’s Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People newspapers.

Prince Harry claimed he was targeted for 15 years and more than 140 stories published in MGN’s newspapers were a result of unlawful information gathering.

The trial only considered 33 of these, with Justice Timothy Fancourt ruling 15 of the sample articles were “the product of phone hacking … or the product of other unlawful information gathering”.

Justice Fancourt also ruled both ex-Mirror CEO Sly Bailey and ex-Mirror editor Piers Morgan knew of hacking and “turned a blind eye”.

Prince Harry was hacked in between 2003 and 2009 by Mirror Group Newspapers, a court has ruled. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)

In his judgment, Justice Fancourt said Prince Harry had a “tendency” to assume all articles about him were the products of hacking, though he was right on some occasions.

“I have found the duke’s case of voicemail interception and unlawful information gathering proved in part only,” Justice Fancourt said.

“I found that 15 out of the 33 articles that were tried were the product of phone hacking of his mobile phone or the mobile phones of his associates, or the product of other unlawful information-gathering.

“I consider that his phone was only hacked to a modest extent and that this was probably carefully controlled by certain people at each newspaper.

“However, it did happen on occasions from about the end of 2003 to April 2009 (which was the date of the last article that I examined).

“There was a tendency for the duke in his evidence to assume that everything published was the product of voicemail interception because phone hacking was rife within Mirror Group at the time.

“But, phone hacking was not the only journalistic tool at the time and his claims in relation to the other 18 articles did not stand up to careful analysis.”

Ex-Mirror editor Piers Morgan (pictured) and ex-Mirror CEO Sly Bailey knew about the hacking. Picture: Supplied

Prince Harry, who was not in court, called the ruling a “momentous win” and called on police to investigate further.

“Today is a great day for truth as well as accountability,” his lawyer David Sherborne said, reading a statement from the Prince.

Mr Sherborne said Prince Harry “respectfully calls on authorities, the financial regulator, stock markets … and the Metropolitan Police and prosecuting authorities to do their duty for the British public and investigate bringing charges against the company and those who broke the law”.

“I’ve been told that slaying dragons will get you burned,” Prince Harry said in his statement.

“But in light of today’s victory and the importance of doing what is needed for a free and honest press it’s a worthwhile price to pay. The mission continues.”

Prince Harry called the ruling a “momentous win”. Picture: Daniel Leal / AFP

MGN apologised for the confirmed hacking incidents.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the publisher said: “We welcome today’s judgment that gives the business the necessary clarity to move forward from events that took place many years ago.

“Where historical wrongdoing took place, we apologise unreservedly, have taken full responsibility and paid appropriate compensation.”

On Friday, it was also ruled “Coronation Street” actor Michael Turner, who also uses the stage name Michael Le Vell, had been the victim of phone hacking for some of the 27 articles about him that were examined.

He won £31,650 (A$60,177) in damages.

Originally published as Prince Harry was a victim of phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers