Prince Harry Wins First Stage In Court Case Against The Mail Tabloid

Prince Harry has earned a legal victory in his libel suit against publishers of The Mail, Associated Newspapers Limited. The Duke of Sussex said in the legal filing that articles in the paper caused “serious damage to his reputation and substantial hurt, embarrassment and distress which is continuing.”

The articles were written in February and alleged that Prince Harry suppressed details of his efforts to receive police protection in the U.K. after he and Meghan Markle left the royal family. Associated Newspaper denies the accusations in the claim and now must offer defense with The Mail.

The London High Court judge, Matthew Nicklin, said in an initial hearing last month that the articles could lead a reader to believe that Harry attempted “far-reaching and unjustifiably wide,” control over the narrative. He added that a reader might conclude he “was responsible for attempting to mislead the public as to the true position.”

Even with this ruling, the case is still in its early stages and the suit could still falter depending on the defense presented, but it’s definitely a good sign for Harry’s camp already.

Markle won a suit against The Mail last year for inflammatory and privacy-breaching articles written about her. Part of why the couple left the Royal Family for Santa Barbara was the mistreatment they received at the hands of the British press.