If Harry has evidence which shows that the press hacked Diana's VMs, used that information in their reports and then AFTER death not only continued to hack her friends and families phones, but also covered their tracks by claiming she was in cahoots with them on all the "leaks" when she was alive then that is a fairly big story. I mean Diana no doubt leaked stories but if the press also got many, many stories from hacking her then covering it up...
It seems Harry's suit is part of a larger group of lawsuits being filed this fall on claims recently uncovered from a fairly large period of time on hacking and blagging.
It makes his reference to Diana in his statement even more salient. Basically, he is drawing a through line: despite the so-called reforms the media was forced to perform after Diana's death and post-Leveson, they largely have not done anything different and they are using the same underhanded tactics with Meghan that they did with Diana and 100s/1000s of other people. Hacking, blagging, making up sources or stories, etc. And not only that, many of those complicit or outright guilty are STILL in power (Piers Morgan, for example).
IDK what will happen. I am curious if there is a group litigation potential here which would be a very different ball-game and bolster Harry's claims even more. But Harry has every right to sue over the hacking and conspiracy claims and it sounds like the 'why now' question is a matter of more information being uncovered more recently as well as him wanting to finally correct some wrongs from the past. Some may call that petty, but what does it matter? Wrongs were done (allegedly), they should be addressed.
And as for the claims of "an attack on the free press," please. The tabloids are hardly the free press. By their own admission, their main goal is to entertain and to provoke, not to inform. What many refuse to see is that there is a difference between critique and abuse. Critiques are pointing out the hypocrisy of flying private when you care about climate change (it was still overblown). Abuse is posting constant and false stories about someone to gin up anger and incite violence which we've seen the tabs do with Meghan. They pull outlandish stories from the depths of tumblr and twitter (something i've only ever seen them do especially for POC targets), feed them to this crowd that deeply hates Meghan, that crowds responds with violent language or threats on comment sections, in social media or even attends her events with the goal of harm (this happened a few times during her pregnancy). Or they post just all-out racist articles or use her father.
The Ingrid Sewards of the world, who themselves have said terribly suspect things (Harry should have married an English Rose apparently), who like to pretend that Harry and Meghan are anomalies in all their actions (William and Kate have sued multiple times as have other royals. William and Kate sent a statement to the papers pleading for privacy at Amner when Charlotte was born, etc.) do so to otherize Meghan--another form of bias and abuse.
I am not sure if these lawsuits will help, but I hope they prevail. I have a friend whose family dealt with the cruel glare of the British tabloids. They ruin lives with no regard for truth. Something has to be done.
