Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and six others on Tuesday lost their privacy case against the publisher of the Daily Mail, a biting defeat that ended the duke’s yearslong legal battle against U.K. tabloids.
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A High Court judge ruled that Harry, Elton John, actor-model Elizabeth Hurley and the other claimants failed to prove allegations of unlawful information gathering, dismissing all 97 claims brought against the newspaper.
In a statement summarizing the ruling, Judge Matthew Nicklin wrote that the claimants could not rely on “suspicion, even where understandable,” and that they had failed to prove “that the information complained of had been obtained unlawfully.”
The claims against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of The Daily Mail, included allegations of phone hacking, landline tapping, intercepting voicemail messages, unlawful bugging by private investigators and making corrupt payments to the police. The allegations covered a period from 1993 to 2011.
Associated Newspapers repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, asserting its journalists obtained all information lawfully through legitimate sources.
The publisher called Tuesday’s ruling an “overwhelming victory” and a “magnificent vindication” of the Daily Mail’s journalism, per The Associated Press.
Harry described the High Court’s decision as “whitewash.”
“It is a complete and obvious whitewash, but sadly not altogether unexpected,” he continued in a statement on Tuesday. “However, the lengths to which the court has gone to exonerate the Mail is as shocking as it is totally unwarranted.”
“We came to court seeking justice and accountability. But we have received neither. This judgment represents a complete reversal of the position which previous judges have taken in relation to the hacking claims successfully brought against (other British newspapers).”
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The trial began in January at London’s High Court, where Harry became visibly emotional as he testified about the impact the publication’s articles had on him and his wife, Meghan Markle.
“They continue coming after me,” he said at the time, his voice cracking. “They have made my wife’s life an absolute misery.”
The 2½-month trial was an expensive case, costing an estimated 40 million pounds, or $53.5 million — though it could leave the claimants with a combined bill of up to $67 million, per NewsNation.
Harry’s defeat against the Mail follows two previous victories in his broader, yearslong battle with the British press, a fight he said was intended to avoid “history repeating itself” — referring to the relentless paparazzi scrutiny his mother, Princess Diana, faced — he said during a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
He was awarded 140,600 pounds ($178,680) in damages in his case against the Mirror Group in 2023, after a High Court judge ruled that he had been a victim of phone hacking and illegal news gathering.
In January 2025, Harry’s long-running lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers ended with a settlement when the publisher agreed to pay a “substantial” amount of damages to Harry. The settlement included a “full and unequivocal” and full admission of wrongdoing from the newspaper.
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