By BRIAN MELLEY<\/p>\n
LONDON (AP) \u2014\u00a0Prince Harry<\/a>\u00a0\u2019s final lawsuit aimed at taming the British tabloids ended in defeat Tuesday as a judge found he failed to prove his privacy invasion claims against the publisher of the Daily Mail.<\/p>\n Justice Matthew Nicklin rejected the broad inferences the Duke of Sussex had relied on to try to show that Associated Newspapers Ltd. had engaged in unlawful activities. The judge said there was a realistic possibility the news came from legitimate sources.<\/p>\n The ruling scuttles the lawsuits filed by Harry and six others, including singer Elton John and actor-model Elizabeth Hurley, which sought substantial damages and where the legal costs for years of preparation and an 11-week trial were estimated at about $53.5 million.<\/p>\n The publisher called it an \u201coverwhelming victory\u201d and a \u201cmagnificent vindication\u201d of Mail\u2019s journalism.<\/p>\n The case was the third and final of Harry\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n It was \u201cdisturbing to feel that my every move, thought or feeling was being tracked and monitored just for the Mail to make money out of it,\u201d Harry said, in legal filings.<\/p>\n The newspapers denied the allegations as \u201cpreposterous,\u201d insisting the roughly 50 articles at issue were based on lawful sources including friends, royal aides and publicists who offered information to reporters.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n The verdict, released remotely with no court hearing, coincided with\u00a0Harry\u2019s visit home to the U.K.<\/a>, which has been dominated by headlines over his latest efforts to repair a rift with his father, King Charles III.<\/p>\n Harry has said his litigation \u2013 in which he broke with royal family tradition to seek relief in the courts \u2013 was a primary source of his falling out with his father and brother, Prince William.<\/p>\n