A British court has dismissed Prince Harry’s privacy claim against the publisher of the Daily Mail | Today’s news
Prince Harry lost a privacy lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail, on Sunday after a UK High Court judge ruled that the plaintiffs had failed to prove allegations of illegal information gathering.
Prince Harry has lost his court case against the Daily Mail
The Duke of Sussex was among a group of prominent public figures who launched legal proceedings in 2022, accusing the newspaper publisher of engaging in a series of illegal practices to obtain private information. Prosecutors alleged that journalists working for the titles illegally obtained personal information through methods such as phone hacking, tapping landlines and placing surveillance devices in homes and vehicles.
Prince Harry was joined in the case by musician Elton John, filmmaker David Furnish, actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, activist Doreen Lawrence and former Liberal Democrat MP Sir Simon Hughes. The group sought damages alleging that their privacy had been systematically violated over several years.
Associated Newspapers consistently denied the allegations throughout the proceedings and maintained that the claims were baseless. After an 11-week trial earlier this year, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the publisher, concluding that the plaintiffs had failed to prove their case.
In his judgment, Judge Nicklin said the plaintiffs were “open to criticism” for the way aspects of their case had been presented. He specifically referred to allegations that Associated Newspapers staff lied during the Leveson Inquiry, a judge-led public inquiry set up to examine the culture, ethics and practices of the British press in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.
The court did not uphold the allegations of illegal information gathering, thus closing the case in favor of the publisher. A separate costs hearing will be held at a later date. The cost of the lawsuit is estimated at $40 million.
The decision marks the latest legal setback for Prince Harry in his ongoing efforts to challenge parts of the British media over alleged invasions of privacy. In previous cases, he secured a partial victory over Mirror Group Newspapers over unlawful information gathering before reaching a settlement, while News Group Newspapers also settled claims brought by the Duke without a full trial.
Prince Harry also previously sued Associated Newspapers for defamation over an article relating to his legal challenge to the British government over its security measures after stepping down from royal duties. He later withdrew the defamation suit, separately losing his legal challenge to the withdrawal of publicly funded police protection.
The ruling comes as Prince Harry is in the UK for the one-year countdown to the 2027 Invictus Games, the international sporting event for wounded, injured and sick soldiers and veterans that he founded. A hearing to determine the costs of the privacy action will be held at a later date.
