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Prince Harry’s Trial Set To Proceed As Phone Hacking Claims Against Tabloids Were Thrown Out

July 27, 2023

Prince Harry’s phone hacking trial is set to move forward. London’s Highest Court ruled that this will be proceeding, but the claims of decades-old phone hacking were thrown out for being filed too late. 

The court rejected one of Harry’s central arguments for his upcoming case. Claims that there had been a “secret deal” struck between Buckingham Palace and tabloids to keep the group quiet on the family have been thrown out.

Harry, the youngest of the royals, is suing News Group Newspapers over the alleged invasion of privacy the family suffered by tabloids including the Sun. Other tabloids named in the suit include News of the World which ran from the 1990s until 2016. 

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, arrives to give evidence at the Mirror Group Phone hacking trial at the Rolls Building at High Court on June 06, 2023 in London, England. Prince Harry is one of several claimants in a lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers related to allegations of unlawful information gathering in previous decades.

This is just one of four cases that Prince Harry, now a California native, is pursuing at the High Court against British publications. His hope is to hold tabloid executives for lying and cover up what he claims to be a wide scale of wrongdoing against the royal family. 

Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, arrives to the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain's High Court, in central London on June 6, 2023. Prince Harry is expected to take the witness stand as part of claims against a British tabloid publisher, the latest in his legal battles with the press. King Charles III's younger son will become the first senior British royal to give evidence in court for more than a century when he testifies against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).

Harry has pointed out that media has been a large demise for his personal relationships in life, including the 1997 death of mother Princess Diana. Back in 2012, NGN apologized for the alleged hacking by its journalists and shut down due to the backlash. But the news group has rejected the claims that the same allegations happened by staff at the Sun.

Harry’s lawyers said the prince did not make a claim sooner due to the standing agreement between Buckingham Palace and figures at NGN. In addition, brother Prince William settled for a “huge sum” against NGN for the phone hacking claims. 

Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex arrive on the long Walk at Windsor Castle arrive to view flowers and tributes to HM Queen Elizabeth on September 10, 2022 in Windsor, England. Crowds have gathered and tributes left at the gates of Windsor Castle to Queen Elizabeth II, who died at Balmoral Castle on 8 September, 2022.

But in the latest update for the trial, Judge Timothy Fancourt said he could not conclude there was a “sufficiently plausible evidential basis” for Harry to allege a secret deal occurred. But the rest of Harry’s claims are set to be included in the trial in January of next year. 

Harry’s legal team will now have to submit new details of claims against NGN, excluding the phone hacking, ahead of next year’s trial. In court documents, lawyers suggested some of the hacking took place as recently while he was dating Meghan Markle in early stages of their relationship. Harry claims the Sun instructed a private investigator to obtain information including her social security number.

Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attend the "Our Planet" global premiere at Natural History Museum on April 04, 2019 in London, England.

Harry also claims that King Charles and Camila conspired through royal aides into planting stories about him in papers to enhance their reputations or distract from any wrongdoings they may have committed. 

This has left many divided on their stance on Prince Harry ahead of the trial. Back in June of 2023, Harry became the first royal for more than 130 years to give evidence in court where he appeared as part of another lawsuit against Mirror Group Newspapers.