Prince Harry dropped his court case against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday on Friday, allegedly incurring a whopper legal bill in doing so, one of several cases the Duke brought against British newspapers over the past year.
The legal team for Prince Harry had been due to hand over documents relating to his case against Associated Newspapers Ltd to the court on Friday, but instead made a last minute notification that they were “discontinuing” the case. Associated Newspapers is the publisher of the Mail on Sunday which the Prince had alleged had published a libelous article about him in February 2022.
The Associated Press notes that the discontinuation of the case makes the Prince liable for both his own costs and the legal bill of Associated Newspapers. While a spokesman for the Prince is reported to have said it is premature to speak of costs at this stage, the Sunday Mail’s sister newspaper the Daily Mail claims the estimated bill for the abandoned libel trial to stand at some £750,000 ($950,000).
The article triggering the trial was over the Duke’s security arrangements after his withdrawal from official duties as a working member of the British Royal Family. The newspaper had alleged that Prince Harry had privately attempted to keep police protection at public expense, a claim he rejected and said — per the Mail — it “attacked his honesty and integrity”. The newspaper claimed what had been written was reasonable as it constituted an “honest opinion”, but Harry’s legal team countered it was published as news, rather than an opinion piece.
A ruling last month meant the Prince’s legal team’s attempt to have the “honest opinion” defence thrown out failed, imperilling the integrity of the case.
The Associated Newspapers case is one of several the Duke launched in his battle against the newspapers he believes have hounded him throughout his life and caused considerable harm, going back to the death of his mother, Diana the Princess of Wales, in 1997. A further case against Associated Newspapers over phone hacking and other unlawful spying is still going through court, and a case against the publisher of The Sun over similar claims is yet to come.
Harry had a court victory at the end of last year, when he was awarded over £140,000 from the Mirror Group of newspapers, again for phone hacking.
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