Well well well. On Wednesday, ITV announced that Prince Harry took part in their documentary called Tabloids On Trial. The documentary focuses on the British tabloids’ long history of phone hacking and criminal “newsgathering” methods, and several celebrities are interviewed too. Hugh Grant, Charlotte Church and Paul Gascoigne are also interviewed. But guess who’s getting the biggest headlines?
Prince Harry and Hugh Grant will be featured in an ITV documentary focusing on ongoing legal battles and involvement in the phone hacking scandal titled Tabloids On Trial.
The Duke of Sussex alleges that he was targeted by journalists and private investigators working for News Group Newspapers (NGN) titles The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, which closed in 2011. In May, the prince’s lawyers were told by a London judge that he cannot expand the privacy lawsuit against to include allegations against media mogul Rupert Murdoch and presenter Piers Morgan.
In 2011, news broke that some of Britain’s biggest stars and figures were allegedly victims of a scandal whereby the media’s top newspapers were tapping landlines and fitting properties with listening devices in the name of journalism. NGN has denied any illegal activity took place at The Sun.
But in December, Justice Timothy Fancourt ruled in Prince Harry’s favor against Mirror Group Newspapers in a 386-page decision handed down in the High Court; he said that phone hacking, which for the prince dated back to 2003, was “widespread and habitual” at the Daily Mirror, and that executives there had covered it up.
Grant, ex-soccer player Paul Gascoigne, and singer-songwriter Charlotte Church will also be featured in the documentary after claiming to have had their privacy violated by the tabloid press. (Grant settled the illegal snooping case against NGN in April).
ITV News’s Rebecca Barry will sit down with Prince Harry – who has broken from royal tradition with the immense legal action – for his first major interview since the legal action commenced as the documentary “hears about his mission to continue his fight to expose the illegal tactics of Britain’s tabloid press, and explore what those in charge at Fleet Street really knew as this scandal unfolded.” The program will air on ITV1 and ITVX on Thursday, July 25.
Some Sussex Squad have suggested that the interview with Harry was conducted in the UK, but I haven’t seen any confirmation of that? It’s more than possible that ITV sent a crew to Montecito and conducted the interview there. It’s also possible that Harry did the interview in London during his visit in May (that timeline would make sense too). As for the documentary… I wonder if any American network will pick it up? Probably not, so I don’t know if I’ll get the chance to see it. I’m hopeful that the clips of Harry’s interview make it online. One thing which is grossly underreported is that Harry is an incredibly effective advocate for himself and his family. That’s why the Oprah interview was such a huge deal in the UK, that’s why Spare sold millions of copies, that’s why they fear all of his platforms – because Harry can and does advocate for himself and he’s well-spoken, direct and charismatic. And most of all, he’s believable.
Excited for you all to see this ITV documentary about phone hacking that we've been busy working on…
I interview Prince Harry – plus others who found themselves catapulted onto the tabloid front pages.
📺 Tabloids On Trial airs on ITV1 & ITVX at 9pm on Thursday July 25 pic.twitter.com/iBNlkFnqft
— Rebecca Barry (@BeccaBarry) July 10, 2024
NEW: @ITV announces Prince Harry has taken part in a documentary about phone hacking.
He tells our reporter @BeccaBarry why he is fighting to expose what he says are the illegal activities of Britain’s tabloid newspapers.
Hugh Grant, Charlotte Church, Paul Gascoigne also speak.… pic.twitter.com/0gFPZWMmo7— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) July 10, 2024
Photos courtesy of ITV and Avalon Red.
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- Prince Harry departs The Royal Courts Of Justice in London, England, UK on Tuesday 28 March, 2023. He is part of a group suing the Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) in the High Court over phone hacking allegations.,Image: 765696129, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- Prince Harry arrives at The Royal Courts Of Justice in London, England, UK on Thursday 30 March, 2023. He is part of a group suing the Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) in the High Court over phone hacking allegations.,Image: 766139764, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
Burn it to the ground, Harry!!! I hope the documentary also digs into the royal family leaking against their own and throwing Harry to the wolves for the sake of the heirs.
^ This! I hope H talks about the role of the RF in facilitating the leaking & briefing against him, thereby aiding & abetting the criminality of the shitmedia.
The RF has a history of leaking to their cohorts in the shitmedia, telling them where H is at any given moment (which they were still doing up to when he & M were living at Tyler’s.)
Burn that ship Harry & I hope they bring back as an example the time where charles wished to be a tampon
I think that would be another documentary. This one is the criminal acts committed by the tabloids to get their stories. It affects everyone in UK. I hope they stay on this point, because the tabloids would love nothing more than turning the doc into a family feud.
Yes, I totally agree. I really hope Harry saws *nothing* about the Royal Family. This is not about the way the RF uses the media. While I don’t know who all is covered in this documentary, and I realize that there are celebrity names that are needed for publicity, tabloid hacking affected (and affects imo) everyone in the UK who has the misfortune of being targeted by them for whatever reason. One of the major target groups is crime victims and their families. These are not famous people, they become the interest of “public interest” because of whatever bad thing happened to them. It also affects politicians, particularly those who are more progressive, and activists. The tabloids love to create controversy and scandal and do not care who they hurt in the process.
Proud of Harry. He is continuing his search for accountability while the gutter U.K. press has been relentless in unsuccessfully trying to destroy his character. He is a man on a mission, a very important one. While his family sucks up to the gutter press and feeds them he is holding them accountable. A man with integrity.
I’m glad that others are standing up with him to fight them. Hopefully, some of the interviews will be with some non-celeb people who have been harassed by the tabloids.
We now know why the rats 🐀 and company have been throwing up over today award.
Oh yes , our good King Harry , always popping up unexpectedly , looking regal and handsome , doing impressive things .
He doesn’t take any notice of all the negativity about him , he just keeps on focusing on what he believes in .
I literally said yesterday that I smelled distraction with the latest batch of anti-Harry and Meghan stories! The BM was trying to get ahead of this program for sure…
Good point!
But how did the royal reporters, who know Harry’s inner thoughts, dreams, not know about this? Good for Harry participating in this. It wouldn’t get international attention without his name. I don’t fully trust ITV as a reliable media company to convey the crimes committed by tabloids, but let’s see before making judgments.
There are no leaks in Montecito!
good. Also shows how much the palaces were leaking, and how great and trustworthy the sussex staff is.
I don’t trust itv at all but as I said below Rebecca Barry’s coverage has been very good. But yeah, we’ll have to see.
Kaiser’s, I reduced my tv package last year and lost ITV as a result. Anything I’ve ever wanted to see from ITV I’ve seen on YouTube. I reckoned n it will be on YouTube in its entirety 24hrs after its aired
Oooh, good to know! Thank you, @Ali!
Where is the guy that said Harry is coming back alone in 10 years. Harry said here you go, I will tell about my miserable life in England AGAIN.
AND WHERE IS ALL THE BIG HEADLINES FOR THIS STORY 😒😒
I love that Harry is doing this and Harry doing this may mean that it will be released in the US as well.
Also yes he is an incredibly effective advocate for himself and his family, but the hate watchers also contribute to the views.
I mean us Sussex fans aren’t interested to giving the others views and engagements, but the haters and the tabloids watch and read everything often to find something negative. I don’t know why you’d willingly go trough that for someone you dislike but oh well more clicks for the sussexes.
All the reporters who were bleating about the ESPYs fell silent when this news came out.
They sure did.. but with them it won’t last long. I imagine Mr Incandescent with Rage will be calling soon.
Not surprised that Murdoch got a pass from the lawsuit. Hate it that PM did. Maybe they will both get big mentions in this documentary.
Check Clive Irving, Daily Beast, 5/21/24, ‘Murdoch’s Latest Court Victory is No Victory at All.’
I wonder if ITV sucomed to BP’s demands to see the whole thing before it airs (like they usually do) and forced them to remove any part of it that even references them – nevermind ‘make the look bad.’ Thats their M-O.
So proud of you Harry. So proud of your bravery and maturity You are the only adult in the room full of Brit royals.
Kudos to ITV if they managed to keep this quiet since early May. I’m inclined to believe Barry flew to LA within the past few days to record Harry’s interview. Maybe we’ll find out more when it airs.
I definitely think this was filmed in England. I’m from California and that textured carpet and stiff floral arrangement are not giving me SoCal vibes at all.
It screams “hotel room” to me. A nice hotel room, but still a hotel.
Ever since meeting Meghan, Harry has matured and become a better public speaker. He is calmer now, doesn’t seem nervous any longer, he’s articulate, he thinks things through, and he is profound and intelligent.
Seeing that Harry has always wanted to go public with the phone hacking, the deceit, the lies, I’m cautiously keeping my fingers crossed and hope for a bomb to go off, with a few grenades lobbed across the whole swamp inhabited by the red tops and former papers of record like the Torygraph and the Times.
And I’m really looking forward to watching the usual suspects losing their temper with Harry, Hugh Grant and the others — and implicating themselves afterwards.
This documentary needed to be made, I’m surprise it’s being done though.
ITV are having a bit of a moment in this space, their dramatisation of the post office scandal was incredibly well received and landed at exactly the right moment in the public enquiry to get people really paying attention to what had happened.
That was a really good show, about the Post Office scandal. Gadzooks, that was awful what they did.
oh I’m going to see if this is on Youtube after it airs. Harry and Hugh are both very effective advocates for this issue so I’m thinking it will be really good.
Rebecca Barry is one of the few reporters covering the phone hacking case that I’ve been able to watch and have respect for. From what I’ve seen, she doesn’t have any snarky or snide remarks or or let tabloid narratives seep into her reporting.
Is Chris ship slapping himself? How does he cope promoting this? Chris! You’re meant to hate Harry! Remember? Harry’s crazy and hated and useless and a flop! Why are you promoting an interview with him?
He is ITV reporter. He can’t be shady while promoting his employer’s work.
I wonder if he is slapping himself. ITV got the South Africa doco, the Spare interview and now this doco but Chris as the official royal correspondent has never been given that level of access to H (or M). What’s the point of being a royal correspondent if you miss out on
interviews with one of the most prominent individuals on your
beat.
Chris Ship was the one who said he would never cover h&m again after they left. How’d that work out?
Royal reporters are not allowed to do any kind of investigative reports or in-depth interviews like this because they will be blackballed by the Palace. The royal reporters are basically the PR arm of the the Royal Family.
I noticed he phrases it as ‘what Harry says are illegal activities’; pretty sure those tactics have been found illegal in courts of law, right? Or at least during the Levenson Inquiry? It ain’t just Harry ‘saying’ these things.
Slightly off topic- but i am a big fan of re-watching stuff. I have watched their netflix show multiple times. And man- would i LOVE to see the Oprah interview again. Heck, i’d pay to stream it. It is not available anywhere. I can only find a few clips on youtube, and anything that purports to have the entire thing seems to be fibbing.
After being a cog in a gilded cage- being used by his dad and his dad’s wife. Then by his brother. To have found his voice (in conjunction with having a partner to stand by his side)- and taking control and being in charge of his own destiny – to be able to say what He believes and what he wants – to not be managed and manipulated in every area of his life.
He must feel so freed and empowered in some ways. Love that for him.
Family stuff is painful and complicated for many people- and for him.
But wow- he has wings.
I can’t imagine him ever living in England again. No matter what turns his life takes.
I have ZERO confidence on anything UK media made in regarding their own industry behaviors. Lower your expectations, people.
For example, the Amy Winehouse & Caroline Flack documentaries (done by UK TV stations). In both, they failed to named UK’s Tabloid culture & reporting tactics played MAJOR roles in their demise. Just like “T-M-Z Investigate” shows, it’s almost always those people’s own fault & the tabloids held no responsibilities.
UK media has each other’s back. ITV can’t afford to offend the Fail, the ☀ & other media that do/print reviews of ITV programs. So, I guess we will see when it airs.
P.S. MSM in the USA is bad now too. NYT has officially become a tabloid. (After the Parkinson experts visited WH article & out right lied about Pelosi. She called them out on Morning Joe.) WAPO & the Atlantic are heaven for white bro.
I used to have a digital subscription to The Atlantic. I cancelled a couple of months ago. A storied, reliable journal has become just a small cut above right-wing tabloid trash. I could cry.
Give ’em hell, Harry.
I think this is well timed. Supposedly there is an investigation at the WApo about Will Lewis. He needs to go … as do others from the UK who have been infiltrating the US media. It’s unfortunate that it isn’t airing in the US. I’m sure Rupert Murdoch and his ilk will never allow that to happen. I can only hope youtube shows it.
I do hope they include cases like poor Milly Dowler. Her parents were given false hope their daughter was still alive because her phone kept being activated. Unfortunately it was British tabloid press (or those working on their behalf) hacking into Milly’s phone after she had died.
Yer a Wizard, Arry!
You make your ancestors proud.
I’m voting for y’all if you pick TP for your Vice.