Prince Harry withdrew his defamation lawsuit against the Mail after two years

Almost two years ago exactly, the Mail published a series of particularly nasty pieces about Prince Harry and his “security fight.” Long story short, in 2020, Harry asked that he still receive royal protection when he was in the UK, and he offered to pay back the costs of the protection. His offer was rejected by QEII’s private secretary Edward Young, and then Young never informed Ravec (the group which determines who gets protection). Harry is basically suing Ravec, and he also sued the Mail for libel for their reporting/commentary on the security situation. A year ago, Harry requested a summary judgment, which would have basically said that the articles were libelous, case closed. That didn’t happen – instead, the judge gave Harry a partial victory, saying that the articles were defamatory but the case should still go to trial. I genuinely thought Harry was in a good position, even though his case likely hinged on internal memos from Young and Ravec, memos which Harry does not have access to. So Harry has decided to simply cut his losses. For now. Harry has discontinued this one case.

Prince Harry has withdrawn his libel case against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Mail on Sunday, one of three lawsuits he was pursuing against major media publishers in the U.K. On Friday, the Daily Mail reported that the Duke of Sussex’s lawyers alerted the newspaper they had filed a notice with the court on the deadline day for relevant documents.

“The Duke of Sussex discontinues all of this claim,” said the message shared at 10:06 a.m. local time.

In December 2023, it emerged that Prince Harry might be called to give evidence in London court after losing an attempt to have the Mail on Sunday’s defense of his libel lawsuit thrown out. Justice Nicklin said in his judgment that the Duke of Sussex’s lawsuit against ANL over the 2022 article should proceed to trial.

A spokesperson for the Sussexes said: “As is the nature with legal proceedings, years have lapsed since this complaint was first filed. In the time since, the main hearing relating to the duke’s judicial review has taken place and we are awaiting the final decision as to whether Ravec [the executive committee for the protection of royalty and public figures] acted lawfully with regard to his security. His focus remains there, and on the safety of his family, rather than these legal proceedings that give a continued platform to the Mail’s false claims all those years ago.”

The duke’s lawyers had claimed the Mail on Sunday’s February 2022 story about his challenge “purported to reveal, in sensational terms” that information from court documents “contradicted public statements he had previously made about his willingness to pay for police protection for himself and his family whilst in the UK”.

ANL contested the claim, arguing the article expressed an “honest opinion” and did not cause “serious harm” to his reputation.

[From People & The Guardian]

Again, Harry has just withdrawn this one particular case involving the Mail’s 2022 articles about his security and what was said during the Sandringham Summit and what was said in Ravec meetings. Someone involved in those 2020 meetings clearly briefed the Mail and did so to muddy the water on Harry’s security fight. While Harry likely would have been able to prove or win this case, I also understand why he would just want to cut his losses after two years of dealing with the Mail’s bullsh-t. Apparently, Harry will likely have to pay the Mail’s legal fees though, which could be something like $316K. I would keep the case going just because the Daily F–king Mail would never get one f–king dime from me, if I was in Harry’s place. But still, I get it.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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