Prince Harry forced to dilute ‘unduly tendentious’ attack on media as judge rules he must pay £32,500 costs

The Duke of Sussex was ordered by a judge to water down an “unduly tendentious” attack on the media, court documents have revealed.  

The Duke made a rare personal statement in court on Monday, in which he took aim at the Mail on Sunday over a story that wrongly claimed he had turned his back on the Royal Marines when he moved to the United States.  

He accused the newspaper of making a “personal attack” on his character and then, in effect, of lying about a donation to his Invictus Games Foundation.   

Although the Duke, 36, agreed to both the wording and prominence of the newspaper’s apology before it was published, he used the statement to criticise both, claiming it “significantly underplayed” the seriousness of the accusations and failed to “expressly acknowledge” that the allegations were false.  

But in a strongly worded costs order, Mr Justice Nicklin criticised the Duke for the manner in which his legal team approached the legal process.  

The judge described the Duke’s original draft statement as “unduly tendentious,” revealing that it included criticisms of the newspaper which had to be removed or amended.   

He warned that the process should not be used as “a platform for collateral attacks”.