Prince Harry loses privacy invasion lawsuit against Daily Mail publisher
Harry called the result, which scuttles suits filed by others including Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley, ‘a complete and obvious whitewash’
Prince Harry’s final lawsuit aimed at taming the British tabloids ended in defeat on Tuesday as a judge found he failed to prove his privacy invasion claims against the publisher of the Daily Mail.
Justice Matthew Nicklin rejected the broad inferences the Duke of Sussex had relied on to try to show that Associated Newspapers had engaged in unlawful activities. The judge said there was a realistic possibility the news came from legitimate sources.
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 £40 million (US$53.5 million).
The publisher called it an “overwhelming victory” and a “magnificent vindication” of the Daily Mail’s journalism.
Prince Harry called the result a “complete and obvious whitewash” but said the verdict was “not altogether unexpected”.
“The lengths to which the Court has gone to exonerate the Mail is as shocking as it is totally unwarranted,” Harry, the estranged younger son of King Charles, said in a statement after the judgment.
The case 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.