Prince Harry loses privacy lawsuit against Daily Mail publisher

Prince Harry and six other high-profile figures have lost their privacy lawsuit against Associated Newspapers (ANL), publisher of the Daily Mail, after a UK High Court judge dismissed all claims of unlawful information gathering Source: BBC, CNN. Justice Matthew Nicklin ruled that the claimants failed to prove that the 55 articles at issue were obtained through illegal means such as phone hacking or private investigators Source: The Guardian.

The Ruling

The judge rejected the argument that simply because information was private and ANL could not explain its source, it must have been unlawfully obtained Source: CNN. He noted that journalists provided "lawful explanations for the sourcing of the disputed articles" Source: Euronews. The ruling also criticized the gathering of evidence by former phone-hacking journalist Graham Johnson, whom the judge said was not a credible witness Source: BBC.

The Reaction

ANL called the verdict an "overwhelming victory" and a "magnificent vindication" of its journalism Source: DW, AP. Prince Harry and fellow claimant Doreen Lawrence issued a joint statement calling it "a complete and obvious whitewash" and said they were denied justice Source: BBC, El Mundo. The case, which involved an 11-week trial, is estimated to have cost over £50 million in legal fees, which ANL says it will seek to recover Source: CNN, El Mundo.

Context

This was the final of three major lawsuits Harry brought against British tabloids. He previously won against the Daily Mirror and settled with The Sun Source: AP, Al Jazeera. The ruling coincides with Harry's visit to the UK for Invictus Games events Source: BBC.