Prince Harry, who is currently visiting the United Kingdom, and pop star Elton John have lost their lawsuit against the owner of the Daily Mail for invasion of privacy, according to a British court ruling on Tuesday.
“The claimants have failed to prove the allegations of illegal collection of information which they had made,” ruled the High Court in London.
This case pitted the youngest son of King Charles III and other celebrities – including Elton John and actress Elizabeth Hurley – against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday.
During the trial, which lasted more than two months, these personalities accused these newspapers, sometimes in tears or anger, of having – notably by using private detectives – intercepted voice messages, listened to telephone conversations or even lied, to feed more than fifty articles published between 1993 and 2018.
The judgment represents “an overwhelming victory for the Daily Mail and its journalists, as well as for press freedom in general,” the ANL group welcomed in a press release. “It’s a magnificent rehabilitation of Daily Mail journalism,” he added.
It was the latest lawsuit filed by Harry, who has been waging a legal crusade against the powerful British tabloid press for several years.
Harry, who lives in California with his wife Meghan and their two children, blames the paparazzi for the death of his mother Diana in 1997 in Paris. At the High Court in January, on the verge of tears, he accused the tabloids of having made Meghan’s life “absolutely hellish”.
ANL assured for its part that its journalists had acted legally and had relied on legitimate sources to write their articles.
In his battle against the practices of the tabloid press, the Duke of Sussex – his official title – obtained in December 2023 the condemnation of the publishing company of the Daily Mirror. And in January 2025, he reached a financial agreement, for an undisclosed amount, with the owner of the Sun.
Invictus Games
The High Court’s decision comes the day after Prince Harry arrived in the United Kingdom for a several-day visit, as part of preparations for the Invictus Games planned for 2027 in Birmingham (central England). An international sporting event that he created for injured or sick veterans.
It’s Tuesday afternoon at Chatham House, a think tank in central London, for a discussion on the Invictus Games.
Harry was initially to be accompanied by Meghan and their children Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, which would have been a first since 2022. The British media were particularly wondering about a possible meeting between King Charles III and his grandchildren.
But in a first twist last weekend, a source close to the Duke of Sussex announced that Meghan and the children would ultimately not come to London for the first part of the visit.
British authorities decided not to provide police protection to his family, a spokesperson for Harry said, forcing him to make “alternative arrangements”.
The situation turned into an imbroglio on Monday. Several British media outlets, including the BBC and Sky News, citing a source close to Harry, initially reported that the prince would be staying at Buckingham Palace.
Less than two hours later, the same media published a denial from the palace, which explained that Harry would not have accepted the invitation to stay in the official residence of the British sovereign sufficiently in advance.
A spokesperson for the prince considered it “disappointing” that the palace’s invitation “was withdrawn at the last minute”, in a statement sent to AFP.
