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Prince Harry withdraws libel claim against UK publisher: What this means
In December, Prince Harry lost his attempt to have the publisher's defence to his libel lawsuit thrown out.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, withdrew his libel claim against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Mail, a spokesperson for the company said. King Charles' younger son sued the publisher over a 2022 article which alleged that he only offered to pay for police protection after bringing a separate legal fight against the UK government.
The story claimed that Prince Harry “tried to keep details of his legal battle to reinstate his police protection secret from the public” and was published under the headline: "Exclusive: How Prince Harry tried to keep his legal fight with the government over police bodyguards a secret... then - just minutes after the story broke - his PR machine tried to put a positive spin on the dispute."
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Prince Harry's lawyers claimed the story "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".
But the publisher contested the claim, arguing that the article expressed an "honest opinion" and did not cause "serious harm" to Prince Harry's reputation.
In December, Prince Harry lost his attempt to have the publisher's defence to his libel lawsuit thrown out. This meant that he would have likely had to give evidence at London's High Court later this year.
