UK High Court Dismisses Prince Harry and Other Claimants’ Privacy Lawsuits Against Daily Mail Publisher

A UK High Court judge dismissed privacy lawsuits brought by Prince Harry and six other claimants against Associated Newspapers Limited, publisher of the Daily Mail. Judge Mr Justice Nicklin ruled that the claimants failed to prove allegations of voicemail interception, phone tapping and obtaining private records through deception between 1993 and 2011. The court dismissed all 97 allegations.

The judge stated that suspicion alone was not enough and that claimants had to prove the information used by the publisher had been obtained unlawfully. The lawsuits were filed in 2022. Associated Newspapers Limited denied any wrongdoing and maintained that its journalists used legitimate sources.

In every case, the judge accepted the honesty of the journalists’ evidence on how they sourced their stories, according to the publisher. Prince Harry arrived in London on the evening of 6 July 2026 for a week of engagements marking one year until the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham. His wife and children remained in California after security arrangements could not be finalized.

He attended a separate charity event in London on 7 July 2026 after the ruling was issued remotely. Prince Harry described the ruling as a 'complete and obvious whitewash, but sadly not altogether unexpected'. Associated Newspapers Limited described the decision as an 'overwhelming victory' for the Daily Mail and its journalists.