(NewsNation) — A private investigator who played a pivotal role in Prince Harry suing the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday admitted his confession of alleged hacking was false.
Gavin Burrows’ initial statement from August 2021, released by London’s High Court, stated that his written document was forged and that he had never done anything illegal for publisher Associated Newspapers Limited.
He said the statement was “prepared by others without my knowledge,” according to People magazine.
“I do not [recognize] the earlier witness statement of August 16, 2021, and I believe that my signature on that document is a forgery. A lot of it is not written in my type of language,” he said in the statement.
Prince Harry and others sue the Daily Mail publisher
Prince Harry, as well as Elton John, his husband David Furnish and Elizabeth Hurley, have sued ANL for allegedly breaching their privacy.
ANL had denied the allegations, saying they were “lurid” and “preposterous,” according to the BBC.
FILE – Icon award winner Elton John, left, and David Furnish attend the iHeartRadio Music Awards at the Dolby Theatre, May 27, 2021, in Los Angeles. Photos of iconic celebrities and historic moments from the collection of Elton John and David Furnish will go on display at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum next year. The museum said Tuesday Oct. 24, 2023, that the exhibition, titled “Fragile Beauty,” will include 300 images by more than 140 photographers, including Diane Arbus, Cindy Sherman, Robert Mapplethorpe, William Eggleston, Zanele Muholi and Ai Weiwei. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File) 
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 11: Elizabeth Hurley speaks onstage at the “Breaking Bear” panel during New York Comic Con 2025 at The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on October 11, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images for ReedPop) 
Britain’s Catherine, Princess of Wales and Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales tour Long Meadow’s orchards during a visit to Long Meadow Cider in Craigavon, Northern Ireland on October 14, 2025. The Prince and Princess of Wales are visiting organisations providing creative and entrepreneurial opportunities for young people in rural areas of Northern Ireland. (Photo by Chris Jackson / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CHRIS JACKSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Lawyers for Harry told the High Court that Prince William and Kate Middleton were also targeted by ANL and had their privacy breached.
Associated Newspapers Limited has been accused of hacking phones, bugging homes and obtaining medical and financial information of their targets.
Prince Harry has sued ANL as well as other British newspaper publishers before, accusing them of phone hacking and illegal activities.