Prince Harry Withdraws Libel Case Against Tabloid, May Have to Pay 6 Figures
Harry may have to pay Associated Newspapers' legal costs, after dropping his lawsuit against them.
Prince Harry withdrew his libel case against tabloid news outlet the Mail on Sunday, but he may have to pay a six-figure legal cost. Deadline reports that Harry's legal team filed a notice of discontinuance just hours before they were due to submit a list of documents, which could have been included in the trial. Now, Harry faces the possibility of having to pay the legal costs for Associated Newspapers, the Mail on Sunday's publisher.
Deadline reports that the legal costs are around $316,000 (£250,000). This would be on top of Harry's own legal costs. Notably, back in December, a judge ordered the Duke of Sussex to pay the UK tabloid paper's legal costs — totaling nearly $62,800 (£50,000) — after attempting to have part of the outlet's libel defense thrown out. Harry was suing Associated Newspapers over an article about his fight for better security arrangements since moving to Los Angeles, California with his wife, Meghan Markle.
The headline of the story that Harry is fighting against read: "How Prince Harry tried to keep his legal fight with the government over bodyguards a secret ... then – just minutes after the story broke – his PR machine tried to put positive spin on the dispute." Harry's attorneys argued that the "'honest opinion' part of Associated Newspapers" case should be thrown out. The judge in the case disagreed, saying that the publisher has a "real prospect" of arguing its position. Now, Harry has been ordered to pay the legal costs by December 29. Additionally, if the two parties do not reach a settlement, the libel case will g to trial between May and July 2024.
It's been nearly four years since Prince Harry left his Royal duties, which he claims he "felt forced" out of over security issues. According to The Blast, the Duke of Sussex made the comment via his lawyer during a court session in his suit against the Home Office, the governmental organization responsible for the oversight of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec). In the legal briefing, Harry's attorney said he "felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020."
Previously, Ravec chose to limit its protection for Harry and his family to a "case-by-case" basis. The former senior royal felt strongly that this could be dangerous for him, his wife Meghan Markle, and their children. "The UK is my home. The UK is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home as much as where they live at the moment in the US. That cannot happen if it's not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil," read a statement from Harry. "I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm's way too."