Prince Harry Gets a Win in His Lawsuit Against Associated Newspapers
One of Prince Harry’s lawsuits against the British tabloids is set to continue.
A judge ruled today that his suit against the publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, Associated Newspapers, can go ahead. Harry’s suit over “gross breaches of privacy” is tied to similar claims made by Elton John and husband David Furnish, actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, former politician Simon Hughes, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence—all pertaining to alleged illegal obtaining of information.
In a joint statement today, the claimants said, “We are delighted with today’s decision which allows our claims over serious criminal activity and gross breaches of privacy by the Mail titles to proceed to trial.”
The judge said Associated Newspapers had “not been able to deliver a ‘knockout blow’ to the claims of any of these claimants,” according to the BBC. The publisher denied the allegations as “preposterous,” saying in a statement, “As we have always made unequivocally clear, the lurid claims made by Prince Harry and others of phone-hacking, landline-tapping, burglary, and sticky-window microphones are simply preposterous and we look forward to establishing this in court in due course.”
Actor Hugh Grant applauded the decision today, saying, “This ruling is a significant blow to the Daily Mail and great news for anyone who wants the truth about allegations of illegal press practices to come out.” Grant is involved in the Hacked Off organization, a campaign for a more accountable press.
This suit is just one of three Prince Harry has ongoing. Another is against News Group Newspapers, over alleged phone hacking and illegally obtaining information, and a third is against Mirror Group Newspapers over alleged phone hacking. For the case against MGN, he testified in court this past June and submitted a witness statement. Taken together, all three cases are part of Harry’s continued battle against the tabloids, calling their behavior “utterly vile” in his statement.
At the end of 2021, Harry’s wife, Meghan, won her own privacy case against Associated Newspapers, after the company’s outlets published parts of a letter she’d written to her father, Thomas Markle. “This is a victory not just for me, but for anyone who has ever felt scared to stand up for what’s right,” the duchess wrote in a statement. “While this win is precedent setting, what matters most is that we are now collectively brave enough to reshape a tabloid industry that conditions people to be cruel, and profits from the lies and pain that they create.”
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