Prince Harry and campaigner Baroness Lawrence have issued a joint statement criticizing the High Court judge who ruled against Harry in his case against the Daily Mail, alleging bias and a "whitewash." The statement came hours after Mr. Justice Nicklin delivered a judgment in favor of the newspaper.
The Duke of Sussex's 374-word statement referenced the judge's previous work representing newspapers, including the Daily Mirror, suggesting a potential conflict of interest. Harry argued that Mr. Justice Nicklin's findings, which rejected all of his allegations, represented a significant departure from previous rulings in cases brought against other newspapers.
"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," the statement read. It further contended that generic findings about private investigators, previously accepted by courts in similar cases involving well-known individuals, were "wholly ignored."
Harry described the ruling as an "obvious whitewash" and a "shocking" and "totally unwarranted" exoneration of the Daily Mail and its journalists. He questioned how justice could be achieved when the court dismissed evidence, stating, "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."
The statement asserted that while claimants presented evidence, Mail journalists offered denials, which the court "chose uncritically to believe them, even in the face of inconsistencies, contradictions and blatant untruths." Harry maintained that the evidence presented was compelling.
The High Court case involved accusations of illegal information gathering by journalists at the Daily Mail. Over 46 days, the newspaper defended allegations of bugging and unlawfully obtaining private records. In his judgment, Mr. Justice Nicklin found journalists from the Daily Mail to be credible witnesses, stating, "The Claimants failed to prove their pleaded allegations of UIG (unlawful information gathering)." He added that the court accepted the journalists' evidence, including their denials of unlawful information gathering.
The ruling also dismissed allegations made against senior executives at the newspaper concerning claims they had lied at the 2011 Leveson Inquiry into Press ethics.
Following the judgment, Prince Harry attended an Invictus Games event. He made a lighthearted remark about the venue having air conditioning, before speaking about the importance of opportunity and support for military service personnel and veterans.