Prince Harry‘s ongoing legal crusade against British media has entered a new phase as he prepares to draw King Charles III into his lawsuit against News Group Newspapers (NGN).
Since 2019, Prince Harry has systematically pursued legal action against various media outlets, achieving several significant victories. His most notable win came in December 2023 against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), where he was awarded £140,600 in damages for phone hacking. This was followed by an additional settlement, including £400,000 in legal costs.
In his current lawsuit against NGN, Harry alleges that journalists and private investigators working for The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World illegally gathered private information about him between 1996 and 2011. This case was initially part of a larger group of over 40 lawsuits against NGN. However, 39 claimants have recently settled their cases, including Spice Girl Melanie Brown, former BBC executive Alan Yentob, actor Alfie Allen, Ted Beckham, and Ben Elliot (Queen Camilla’s nephew). Only Prince Harry and former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson remain committed to pursuing their claims to trial.
In a new shocking development, Harry has decided to drag his father into the legal dispute, which might widen the chasm between the Duke of Sussex and the rest of the Royal Family.
Did King Charles III work with the media against Prince Harry?
Prince Harry’s lawsuit against News Group Newspapers (NGN) has reached a critical point with new evidence suggesting King Charles III’s direct involvement. On Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, Judge Justice Fancourt granted Prince Harry access to a cache of emails exchanged between senior Buckingham Palace officials and NGN executives from 2013 to 2019. These communications involved Queen Elizabeth II’s private secretaries, Sir Christopher Geidt and Sir Edward Young, as well as key NGN figures, including Rebekah Brooks (News UK CEO), Mike Darcey (her predecessor), and Robert Thomson (News Corp CEO).
The significance of these emails lies in Prince Harry’s upcoming argument in court: He will claim that King Charles III “acted to discourage and stymie him” from pursuing legal action against NGN. The judge deemed these documents crucial, stating there is “a credible case for saying a full picture is necessary in the interest of justice.” The case has become so contentious that Mr. Justice Fancourt described it as resembling “an entrenched front in a campaign between two obdurate but well-resourced armies.” That sounds like an appropriate description as the court faces “a table of disputes running to 44 pages, with 49 separate items or groups of items disputed.”
A legal battle of this size will make any reconciliation effort between Harry and the Royals even harder to achieve. That’s because Harry’s legal team argues that the newly accessible emails could reveal alleged secret negotiations between Buckingham Palace and the publisher. This comes after Harry’s earlier revelation that his brother, Prince William, had quietly settled a phone hacking claim against NGN for a “very large sum” in 2020.
Despite the personal cost, Harry remains committed to his legal pursuit. As Harry explained in an interview for ITV’s Tabloids on Trial, “I’ve made it very clear that this is something that needs to be done. It’d be nice if we did it as a family.” The trial is firmly scheduled for January 2025, with the judge emphasizing that the case “will not be adjourned and will be either tried in January 2025 or settled.”
Published: Nov 17, 2024 09:49 am