- A High Court judge rules that parts of the article were defamatory.
- Prince Harry is suing Associated Newspapers for libel.
- The article alleged he tried to keep his legal fight over police protection secret from the British government.
In his legal battle with the Mail on Sunday publisher; Prince Harry has already won.
When he determined on Friday that a Mail on Sunday article on the royal’s legal dispute; with the British government over his police protection in the nation was defamatory; a High Court judge in London cleared the way for Harry to pursue his libel claim to trial.
The 37-year-old Duke of Sussex is suing Associated Newspapers for libel; after reading an article that said he sought to conceal the specifics of his court battle; to have his police protection restored in the U.K; and that his advisers subsequently attempted to portray the situation in a favourable light.
The piece was headlined, and it appeared in print and online publications in February; “How Harry fought to keep his court battle with bodyguards under wraps…; Then, shortly after MoS published the news, his PR team attempted to make the conflict; seem more favourable.”
Justice Nicklin determined that some of the content of the article in the claim was defamatory; according to court records acquired by PEOPLE. The headline, if “read alone,” implied that Harry; “was trying to keep his ‘legal struggle’ with the Government secret”; but Nicklin claimed that the piece “as a whole” did not support that claim.
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Prince Harry’s attorneys requested permission from the High Court on Thursday; to request a judicial review of a Home Office decision that barred him; from directly paying for his family’s police protection when visiting the UK. Harry “does not feel secure” bringing his two children to the U.K.; according to his legal team, after losing his taxpayer-funded police protection; and the degree of security intelligence that came with it.
Regarding the security issue, the disputed Mail on Sunday article; claimed that Prince Harry had attempted to conceal legal action against the British Home Office; and that he had not offered to pay for his protection during a visit to the UK in June 2021; to dedicate a statue honouring his late mother, Princess Diana.
The decision, according to Judge Nicklin; was “very much the first phase of a libel suit,” she said.
The defendant will next have to provide a defence to the claim, he explained. It will be decided later on in the proceedings; whether the claim is successful or unsuccessful, and if unsuccessful, why.
Meghan Markle previously prevailed in her legal battle against the Mail on Sunday; for releasing a private letter she wrote to her father in 2018; and was awarded a symbolic £1 ($1.36) in damages.
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