Prince Harry just got a major legal setback.
The Duke of Sussex was already in London for an Invictus Games event on Tuesday (July 7), when a judge handed down a major decision in his ongoing legal battle against the British press.
He was photographed arriving at and leaving Chatham House, where he attended the 14th Invictus Games Foundation Conversation: From Policy to Practice. The event was part of the One Year to Go celebrations for the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027.
Harry wore a navy suit, white dress shirt, and burgundy-and-navy striped tie for the appearance. In the photos, he was seen walking outside under the gaze of photographers and reporters, smiling and giving a thumbs up before getting into a waiting car.
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The court dismisses claims made against Daily Mail publisher
While Harry was in London for the Invictus-related event, Justice Matthew Nicklin handed down the long-awaited ruling in the case against Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher of the Daily Mail.
Harry and six other high-profile claimants lost their privacy case after the court dismissed all of their claims after the judge found that the claimants had failed to prove their allegations of unlawful information gathering.
The other claimants in the case included Elizabeth Hurley, Elton John and his husband David Furnish, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Sir Simon Hughes, and Sadie Frost.
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Harry responds in a statement with Baroness Lawrence
Following the ruling, Harry and Baroness Lawrence released a joint statement criticizing the decision.
“We came to Court seeking justice and accountability. But we have received neither,” they said, via People.
They later called the judgement “a complete and obvious whitewash,” adding that they believed the court had ignored evidence presented during the trial.
“It feels here like one rule for the newspapers and another for the claimants,” they added in the statement.
Read the full statement below.
Credit: Backgrid USAWe came to Court seeking justice and accountability. But we have received neither. This judgment represents a complete reversal of the position which previous Judges have taken in relation to the hacking claims successfully brought against both News Group Newspapers and Mirror Group Newspapers (who were represented by, at the time, the Judge who made this decision).
Generic findings about various private investigators that were held by the Courts in these parallel claims to have carried out unlawful activity at the very same time in relation to similar stories and well-known individuals have been wholly ignored. The fact that this Court has chosen to dismiss them represents an inconsistency which is hard to understand or reconcile with common sense, or the evidence heard in the courtroom itself.
It is a complete and obvious whitewash, but sadly not altogether unexpected. However, the lengths to which the Court has gone to exonerate the Mail is as shocking as it is totally unwarranted.
When the Court says there is not sufficient evidence of wrongdoing, despite the documents showing otherwise, then one does wonder how justice was ever going to be achieved. One need not look past when a private investigator the Mail used actually admitted on tape to having unlawfully blagged Baroness Lawrence, or when a journalist recorded the name of the private investigators she used to find out about highly sensitive medical information (that even the Mail was too worried to publish) or when another private investigator emailed one of the journalists with the actual British Airways seat number and ticketing details for a young girl simply visiting her boyfriend in return for payment.
It feels here like one rule for the newspapers and another for the claimants. While the Claimants presented evidence, Mail journalists simply gave denials, and the Court chose uncritically to believe them, even in the face of inconsistencies, contradictions and blatant untruths that were obvious to neutral observers in Court when compared to the documents.
We presented to the Court evidence which we believed was compelling at the time and remains so now. We would like to thank our legal team for all their hard work and all the witnesses who were brave enough to come forward in the pursuit of justice.
His ongoing battle with the press
The decision marks a significant setback for Harry, who has made challenging the British tabloid press a major focus in recent years. He previously won his case against Mirror Group Newspapers over unlawful information gathering and reached a settlement with News Group Newspapers earlier this year.
Another hearing is scheduled on July 29 and 30 to address disputes related to the judgment.
Harry’s London trip also made headlines before the ruling, as the Palace reportedly withdrew an offer for him to stay at a royal residence while he was in town.
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