The editor of the British newspaper ‘The Mirror’ has apologized to prince harry for illegally seeking information about him, at the start of a lawsuit the royals are filing over an alleged “industrial-scale” wiretap in which he is required to testify.

Harry, 38, and some 100 other celebrities, including actors, sports stars, singers and television personalities, are suing publisher MirrorGroup Newspapers (MGN), accusing their titles of habitually accessing private information through widespread phone hacking, deception, and other illicit means between 1991 and 2011.

The plaintiffs say illegal behavior in the DailyMirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People had occurred with the full knowledge of the senior editors and senior executives who they claimed knew about it, approved of it, and actively covered it up.

MGN is contesting the allegations, arguing that some claims were filed too late, and rejecting most of the others, saying, for example, that there was no evidence that Harry was a victim of hacking. In addition, he denies that high-level figures were aware of illegal acts.

However, in documents filed with the London High Court, MGN has admitted that I had hired a private investigator to collect illegal evidence about him in a London nightclub in 2004, and has assured that he “apologizes unreservedly and accepts that (Harry) is entitled to adequate compensation.”

Harry, who was not present at the start of the hearing, has been selected as one of four test cases for the seven-week trial and must declare personally at the beginning of June, the first British royal to do so since the 19th century, according to local media. “Prince or not, the blatantly unlawful and illegal methods the defendant used to obtain all information about his life outside of royal duties were downright appalling,” said David Sherborne, the lawyer representing Harry and the other plaintiffs. .

Sherborne claims that one of the people who would know about this “industrial scale” hack is Piers Morgan, editor of the Daily Mirror from 1995 to 2004 and a former CNN presenter. In his written submission to the court, Sherborne said former Mirror employees had recounted how Morgan, who has always denied any involvement in hacking, I knew it.

On Wednesday, Morgan posted on his Twitter an image of Harry and his wife Meghan in “South Park” with the prince holding a banner that read “We want our privacy.”