UK: Prince Harry loses lawsuit against tabloid in London

This was to be the first appearance of a member of the royal family in court… in a century. Expected this week in London, Prince Harry on Monday finally failed in London’s High Court in a lawsuit against a tabloid he accuses, along with other personalities, of illegal information gathering.

While Prince Harry was expected to testify on Monday, plaintiff’s lawyer David Sherborne announced that he only flew to Los Angeles on Sunday night because he was celebrating his daughter Lilibet’s second birthday. Therefore, he will only be in court on Tuesday, which Judge Timothy Fancourt said was “a bit of a surprise.”

Exiled to California with his wife Meghan, the youngest son of King Charles III, who is in trouble with the rest of the British royal family, has initiated a series of lawsuits against British newspapers. While blaming the controversial press for the death of his mother Diana, Harry also cited the media’s treatment of his wife as one of the factors that prompted him to leave the UK.

Illegal collection of information

In an ongoing lawsuit that began last month in London’s High Court, Harry and other plaintiffs accuse the Daily Mirror publisher of using illegal means to gather information. Among them is the possible hacking of telephone messages between 1995 and 2001.

The Mirror Group (MGN), which in addition to the Daily Mirror publishes its Sunday and folk publications, admitted at the start of the trial in its written opinion “some evidence” of illegal information gathering. MGN issued an “unconditional” apology and promised that this situation would “never” happen again.

The publisher’s lawyer, Andrew Green, by contrast, denied allegations of interception of voice messages. He also dismissed some of the accusations, highlighting the age of the facts, which go back to when the group had other leaders.

Prince Harry’s latest appearance in the UK is on his fast-paced trip to his father’s coronation on May 6. The visit follows weeks of speculation following the tumultuous publication of his memoirs in January, in which he recounts, among other things, the breakdown of his relationship with his father and brother William, as well as his drug use during his tumultuous youth.

The last royal appearance at the helm was in 1890, when the future Edward VII was put on trial for libel. At the end of March, Harry made a surprise appearance in the High Court – but publicly – on the occasion of a preliminary hearing against ANL, the publisher of the Daily Mail, accused of the same methods through a series of charges. personalities, including singer Elton John.