Prince Harry has sharply criticized a UK High Court judge's decision to dismiss his lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. In a joint statement with co-claimant Baroness Doreen Lawrence, the Duke of Sussex described the ruling as a "complete and obvious whitewash" and stated that "we have received neither" justice nor accountability.
ANL had been accused by Harry and six other claimants of unlawfully obtaining information, including through listening devices and private investigators, between the 1990s and 2011. The claimants argued that previous court decisions in similar cases, which found unlawful activity by private investigators during the same period for similar stories involving well-known individuals, were ignored.
Judge Matthew Nicklin ruled that while the allegations were serious, the claimants had not proven that the information used by ANL was not obtained unlawfully. The court rejected the argument that private information and a lack of explanation from the publisher automatically implied unlawful sourcing. ANL had previously denied the allegations, asserting that its information was legitimately obtained.
"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)," Harry and Lawrence stated. They expressed bewilderment at the court's dismissal of the evidence presented during the 10-week trial, which began in January. The claimants feel the court showed an "inconsistency which is hard to understand or reconcile with common sense."
"The lengths to which the court has gone to exonerate the Mail is as shocking as it is totally unwarranted," the statement continued. Harry and Lawrence alleged that the court uncritically believed denials from Mail journalists despite inconsistencies and contradictions evident when compared to documentary evidence. "We presented to the court evidence which we believed was compelling at the time and remains so now."
The Duke of Sussex concluded his statement by thanking his legal team and the witnesses who came forward. Moments after the ruling, Harry delivered a welcome address at the 14th Invictus Games Foundation Conversation: From Policy to Practice conference at Chatham House in London. He had arrived in the UK earlier in the week to promote the upcoming Invictus Games, though his wife Meghan Markle and their children remained in the United States, reportedly due to security concerns.