Prince Harry and six other claimants have lost their High Court privacy case against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.
Justice Nicklin ruled that the claimants had failed to prove allegations that the newspaper group unlawfully obtained information for published stories.
The lawsuit was brought by Prince Harry alongside several prominent figures, who alleged the publisher used illegal methods to gather information. Associated Newspapers consistently denied the claims.
In a joint statement issued after the ruling, Prince Harry and Baroness Doreen Lawrence said they had gone to court seeking “justice and accountability” but received neither.
“It is a complete and obvious whitewash, but sadly not altogether unexpected,” the statement said.
Associated Newspapers described the judgment as an “overwhelming victory” for the Daily Mail and its journalists.
Judge says evidence fell short
In a summary of his decision, Justice Nicklin said the allegations were serious and therefore required convincing evidence.
He ruled that suspicion alone, regardless of how understandable it might be, was insufficient to prove unlawful information gathering.
The judge assessed each individual complaint instead of making a broader finding on whether unlawful information gathering had been widespread within Associated Newspapers.
He also accepted the explanations given by the publisher’s journalists on how the disputed stories had been sourced and found no evidence that former editors Paul Dacre and Peter Wright, or senior lawyer Elizabeth Hartley, had provided false evidence during the Leveson Inquiry.
The 436-page judgment examined every alleged breach of privacy. In one example, Prince Harry challenged a 2013 article about his relationship with Cressida Bonas, claiming he did not know how the newspaper had obtained information about their separate whereabouts.
Justice Nicklin said Prince Harry’s concerns about the article were genuine but concluded that suspicion was not enough to establish unlawful conduct.
Trial featured high-profile claimants
The case included testimony from Prince Harry, current and former Associated Newspapers journalists and executives, and several other claimants.
During the trial, Prince Harry said the newspaper’s reporting had caused significant distress to him and his wife, the Duchess of Sussex.
Other claimants included Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost, Elton John and his husband David Furnish, Simon Hughes and Baroness Lawrence.
Associated Newspapers denied every allegation throughout the proceedings.
Following the ruling, Simon Hughes described the decision as “very disappointing” and said he would take time to consider the judgment.
The publisher said the court had dismissed all 97 allegations made by the claimants and accepted the evidence given by its journalists regarding how their stories were sourced.
Paul Dacre said the legal action should never have proceeded to trial and described the ruling as a significant victory.
A further two-day hearing is scheduled to begin on July 29.
The case is the latest in Prince Harry’s series of legal battles against sections of the British press. He previously succeeded in claims against Mirror Group Newspapers in 2023, while News Group Newspapers reached a settlement with him last year over allegations of unlawful intrusion into his private life.
