Prince Harry sues UK tabloids over alleged phone-hack

Britain's Prince Harry has launched a case against two British tabloids over alleged phone hacking allegations, believed to date back a few years.

His latest action, against the 'Sun' and 'Mirror' group of newspapers, marks an escalation of his fight with sections of the media he had recently branded as "ruthless" in an impassioned letter and accused them of waging a war against his wife Meghan Markle.

Lawyers representing the 35-year-old Duke of Sussex, the sixth in line to the British throne, have filed papers at the High Court in London over the illegal interception of voicemail messages dating back to the early 2000s. The details of the legal claim have not yet been made public or delivered in full to the newspapers concerned.

However, it is believed the claims refer to historical cases when Harry and his brother, Prince William, were at the centre of a series of hacking allegations after it emerged in the early 2000s that UK tabloid journalists were routinely accessing public figures' voicemails to find stories.

It had led to a flurry of legal cases and eventually resulted in the closure of the Rupert Murdoch owned 'News of the World'.

Harry's claims were filed by leading London law firm Clintons, which has overseen several phone-hacking claims in the past and won substantial payouts on behalf of high-profile clients.

A spokesperson for News Group Newspapers (NGN), which owns 'The Sun', 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."