Prince Harry should get just 500 pounds: Why London court was told this

MGN admitted that on one occasion a private investigator had been engaged to unlawfully gather evidence about Prince Harry.

Prince Harry should receive a maximum of just 500 pounds in damages for one admitted instance of unlawful information gathering, lawyers representing a British tabloid newspaper group told London's High Court. The Duke of Sussex is one of more than 100 people suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over allegations of phone-hacking and unlawful information gathering. MGN publishes Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People.

Prince Harry leaves the High Court after giving evidence in London. (AP)

The case alleges unlawful activity at all three MGN newspapers between 1991 and 2011. Prince Harry was earlier grilled over allegations that he had been unlawfully targeted by MGN titles for 15 years from 1996, when he was a child. With this, he became the first senior British royal to appear in a witness box for more than 130 years.

At the start of the trial, MGN admitted that on one occasion a private investigator had been engaged to unlawfully gather evidence about Prince Harry at a London nightclub in 200 for which it "unreservedly apologises".

The publisher argued that Prince Harry "has failed to identify any evidence of voicemail interception against him, nor any other evidence of unlawful information gathering in respect of his private information", apart from the one incident.

"The Duke of Sussex should be awarded a maximum of 500 pounds given the single invoice naming him concerns enquiries on an isolated occasion and the small sum on the invoice - 75 pounds - suggests enquiries were limited," MGN's lawyer said.