Who was Frank Thorne; the journalist named by former royal reporter Jane Kerr today at London’s High Court?

With Nikki Sanderson taking the witness stand this afternoon, marking the close of the Harry part of the court case of Various Claimants v MGN Ltd, the cross-examination of Jane Kerr as part of Harry’s case provided some terse moments in the courtroom - between both David Sherborne and Andrew Green KC and the scrutiny the former Royal editor of the Daily Mirror, Jane Kerr, received from Sherborne.

Throughout yesterday afternoon and until the lunchtime break today, Kerr was questioned about if she would make up new stories if a story about Harry was already broken, how much of an influence Piers Morgan had over her editorial and how they received stories of Harry’s exploits in Australia lawfully.

Though a number of Kerr’s answers boiled down to either not recalling or not remembering her sources, there was one name that she did recall, with regards to the coverage of Harry in Australia - one Frank Thorne. He was said to be a freelance journalist based in Australia, according to Ms. Kerr however Sherborne brought up two contribution payment requests were sent to Thorne which appear to relate to two of the 33 articles brought up in court - the first is dated 24 September for £100 with the description "So that's where you got your hair style from Harry" and the second is dated 26 September for £450 with the description "Prince Harry watch Hunter Valley (Ellis)".

"So what you're saying is all Mr Thorne would do is effectively provide a cutting service to your organisation?" Mr Sherborne asked Kerr, who replied she doesn't remember contacting him but she would have "almost certainly" received news copy from him; the late Mr Thorne appeared to have been contracted by the news desk and would have likely been asked to send back information generally on Harry's visit, she says. 

Harry's side claims this is evidence MGN was using unlawful techniques to gather information, and contend that Mr Thorne was able to convert phones to their original numbers, and did a number of enquiries for MGN journalists.  Asked how the freelancer had obtained information for her article, Kerr says she had "no idea" how he had tracked down Harry. 

Who was Frank Thorne?

Frank Thorne had a distinguished career as a journalist. Starting in his mid-twenties, Thorne worked under the guidance of Brian Hitchen, the news editor of the Daily Express. Notable among his accomplishments was reporting Lady Lucan's confession that she would name the killer of her nanny, a revelation she later attributed to Lord Lucan. Thorne's career progressed as he joined the Sunday People as a senior investigative reporter, where he spent 12 years before a brief stint at the Today newspaper. He eventually became a part of the Daily Mirror team under editors Richard Stott and later Roy Greenslade.

In 1990, Thorne earned the title of reporter of the year for his investigation into the financial dealings of miners' leader Arthur Scargill, alongside his colleagues Terry Pattinson and Ted Oliver. After experiencing the financial fallout from Robert Maxwell's pension scandal, Thorne decided to relocate to Australia, where he continued working for various tabloids and magazines in the United Kingdom, Scotland, Ireland, the United States, and Australia.

Thorne's move to Australia proved to be a tremendous success, and he embraced the challenges of the Australian media landscape. He notably competed against Richard Shears of the Daily Mail, even after Shears transitioned to working for his own Australian Mail Online staff. Thorne's dedication to journalism remained steadfast throughout his career, but he expressed concerns about the impact of online platforms on the industry, lamenting the changing landscape that was gradually eroding the business they loved and enjoyed.

Thorne passed away at the age of 72 due to complications arising from a kidney transplant on September 10 2021.