Prince Harry is suing the owners of the Sun and Daily Mirror in relation to alleged phone hacking, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
Documents have been filed on behalf of the Duke of Sussex at the High Court regarding the alleged illegal interception of voicemail messages.
A spokeswoman for News Group Newspapers – which owns The Sun and the now defunct News of The World – said: “We confirm that a claim has been issued by the Duke of Sussex. We have no further comment to make at the current time.”
A source at Reach plc, which owns the Mirror, said they were aware that proceedings had been issued but had not yet received them, so they were unable to comment further.
A royal source said that as the particulars of the claims were not yet public, there could be no further comment.
Meghan is claiming misuse of private information, infringement of copyright and breach of the Data Protection Act 2018.
The case is being privately funded by Harry and Meghan and, pending a court ruling, proceeds from any damages will be donated to an anti-bullying charity.
In a statement, which was issued during the couple's tour of southern Africa, Prince Harry said the "painful" impact of intrusive media coverage had forced the couple to take action.
Referring to his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, the prince said his "deepest fear is history repeating itself".
"I've seen what happens when someone I love is commoditised to the point that they are no longer treated or seen as a real person," he said.
