‘Forged’ signature on crucial Prince Harry privacy doc

https://pressgazette.substack.com/p/forged-signature-on-crucial-prince

Publish Date: 2026-03-24 07:44:00

Source Domain: pressgazette.substack.com

Good morning from the team at Press Gazette on Tuesday, 24 March.

🍿 Dramatic scenes at the Prince Harry versus the Mail privacy trial yesterday as former star witness for the claimants Gavin Burrows took the stand.

Legal claims filed by Prince Harry, Liz Hurley, David Furnish, Sir Elton John and others appear to be largely based on a lengthy 2021 statement purportedly given by the private investigator to legal researchers.

In it Burrows apparently confessed to committing hundreds of illegal acts on behalf of the Mail on Sunday including hacking (computers and phones), bugging and blagging.

Giving evidence via video link from an undisclosed foreign location, Burrows explained why he stopped working for legal researchers working with campaign group Hacked Off (after previously being paid tens of thousands).

He said: “They’re without doubt paying witnesses. I don’t want to be any part of this.”

Talking about the disputed 2021 statement, he told claimants’ barrister David Sherborne: “Forensically, your people have deliberately not gone through it. Go through it. It’s proven. Forget about this statement. It’s blown. You do the analysis of my signature.”

Looking at the signatures below, you don’t need to be a forensic handwriting expert to see that the 2021 version looks nothing like the more recent signature attached to the 2025 statement given by Burrows denying he ever worked for the Mail titles.

It looks to me like the jig is up for Prince Harry and co.

Two Gavin Burrows signatures. Top is from a disputed 2021 statement. Bottom is from a 2025 witness statement. Picture: Press Gazette

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