Prince Harry has lost his privacy case against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail, which he had alleged of widespread unlawful behaviour.
The Duke of Sussex, 41, and six other claimants, including singer Elton John and actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, had accused the company of violating their privacy from the early 1990s until the 2010s.
They alleged Associated Newspapers tapped their phones, intercepted voicemails and obtained personal information through deception.
But the newspapers denied the allegations as “preposterous,” insisting the information reported was based on lawful sources including friends, royal aides and publicists who offered information to reporters.
Prince Harry has lost his privacy case against British tabloid Daily Mail. (Reuters: Isabel Infantes)
Judge Matthew Nicklin, who issued his ruling remotely without a hearing, dismissed all of the claims saying all claimants had “failed to prove their pleaded allegations”.
“The Court rejected the attempt to prove the claims by broad inference where there remained a legitimate and realistic possible lawful source pathway, or where the article-specific evidence did not prove that the relevant information must have been obtained unlawfully,” the judgment summary read.
The publisher described the 436-page judgment as “an overwhelming victory for the Daily Mail and its journalists”.
“As the judgment clearly shows, every single article was legitimately sourced,” the statement said.
Legal costs for the 11-week trial have been estimated at about £40 million ($77 million).
A hearing will take place on July 29 for argument on any points of dispute as to the orders.
Diana would be ‘rightly proud’ of Harry’s tenacity to take on Murdoch tabloids
Prince Harry held back tears in the witness box in January as he said the Daily Mail had made his wife Meghan’s life “an absolute misery”.
He had previously won against the publisher of the Daily Mirror tabloid and settled a claim with Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper arm.
Mr Murdoch’s flagship UK tabloid, The Sun, apologised for intruding on his life for years, and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his privacy invasion lawsuit.
Tuesday’s judgment coincides with Prince Harry’s return to London for charity events.
It was the third and final of Harry’s lawsuits accusing tabloid publishers of using unlawful tactics, such as phone hacking, or hiring private detectives to dig up dirt to snoop on his life.
Prince Harry has said his litigation, which saw him break with royal family tradition to seek relief in the courts, was a primary source of his falling out with his father and brother, Prince William.
Prince Harry also blames the press for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi in Paris, and for attacks on his wife that led the couple to abandon royal life and move to the United States in 2020.
AP/Reuters