Related Articles
Rebecca Lewis
Prince Harry has filed a High Court libel action against the publisher of the Daily Mail, Associated Newspapers Limited, after wife Meghan Markle’s privacy win
Prince Harry has filed a High Court libel action against the publisher of the Daily Mail. A spokesperson for the Duke confirmed the news in a statement which read: “I can confirm the duke has filed a complaint against Associated Newspapers Limited.”
READ: Meghan Markle will create ‘a few shock waves’ and ‘do what no one expects’ in 2022
Court filings show the Duke of Sussex filed a claim related to an article published by The Mail On Sunday on Sunday 20 February relating to issues on his family’s security, under the headline: ‘Revealed: How Harry tried to keep his legal fight over bodyguards secret’.
WATCH: Prince Harry’s last visit to the UK for Princess Diana statue unveiling
Harry, 37, is also currently bringing privacy claims against News Group Newspapers, which publishes The Sun, and Mirror Group Newspapers, now called Reach plc, which publishes The Mirror, over alleged phone hacking and unlawful information gathering.
The new claim comes after his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, was awarded £1 nominal damages in 2021, along with an undisclosed sum which she donated to charity, after winning her case against ANL.
MORE: The Queen makes rare comment about Lilibet during Christmas Day speech
MORE: Royal fans are all saying the same thing about the first photo of Lilibet
She sued the publisher over a privacy claim alleging articles had reproduced parts of a “personal and private” handwritten letter to her estranged father, Thomas Markle.
ANL was also ordered to issue a front-page apology and pay the duchess’s legal costs.
Harry last visited the UK in July 2021 for the Princess Diana statue unveiling
Harry is also involved in litigation against the Home Office over his security arrangements when he is in the UK.
He wants to bring his children, Archie, two, and eight-month-old Lilibet, to visit from the US, but he and his family are “unable to return” because it is too dangerous.
The family personally funds a private protection team in the US.
But he and Meghan lost their taxpayer-funded police protection in the UK in the aftermath of stepping back as senior royals in March 2020. Harry, who did not attend the first hearing in person, is arguing that his private protection team in the US does not have adequate jurisdiction abroad or access to UK intelligence information which is needed to keep his family safe.
Prince Harry and Meghan with their two children
A legal representative for Harry previously said the Duke wants to fund the security himself, rather than ask taxpayers to foot the bill.
However Robert Palmer QC, for the Home Office, told the court that Harry’s offer of private funding was “irrelevant”.
The Home Office’s written arguments also claim that Harry’s offer of funding was “notably not advanced to Ravec” at the time of the Duke’s visit in June 2021, or in any pre-action discussions.
Mr Palmer later said in the written submissions that the Duke had “failed to afford the necessary measure of respect” to the Home Secretary and Ravec as “the expert, and democratically accountable, decision-maker on matters of protective security and associated risk assessment”. He added that the Ho
Make sure you never miss a ROYAL story! Sign up to our newsletter to get all of our celebrity and royal news delivered directly to your inbox.
