Prince Harry’s bid to sue The Sun newspaper over claims of phone hacking has been thrown out by a High Court judge.
The Duke of Sussex brought a legal claim against the newspaper’s publisher, News Group Newpapers (NGN), alleging he had been targeted by journalists and private investigators for The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World over the course of 15 years between 1996 and 2011.
In a ruling on Thursday morning, Mr Justice Fancourt delivered a damaging blow to Harry’s various battles against the media, saying his claims of phone hacking at NGN had been brought too late to go to trial.
He concluded Harry would have known about a possible phone hacking civil claim in 2013, meaning a six-year time limit for bring a case expired in 2019.
“I am satisfied that there is no reasonable prospect of the Duke proving at trial that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have discovered facts that would show that he had a worthwhile claim for voicemail interception in relation to each of the News of the World and The Sun”, said the judge.
“He already knew that in relation to the News Of The World, and he could easily have found out by making basic inquiries that he was likely to have a similar claim in relation to articles published by The Sun.”
Harry’s claim about wider unlawful information gathering – including the alleged illegal activities by private investigators for the newspapers - has been allowed to go forward to a trial, in 2024 or 2025.
The Duke also lost a bid to introduce into his case evidence of an alleged “secret agreement” between Buckingham Palace and senior NGN executives over the handling of unlawful activity allegations against the newspapers.
In a statement issued after the rulings, the publishers called it a “significant victory for News Group Newspapers”.
“As we reach the tail end of litigation, NGN is drawing a line under disputed matters, some of which date back more than 20 years ago”, said a spokesperson.
“In arguing his case, the Duke of Sussex had alleged a ‘secret agreement’ existed between him/Buckingham Palace and NGN which stopped NGN from asserting that the duke’s claim had been brought too late.
“The Judge, Mr Justice Fancourt, found his claims in relation to the alleged ‘secret agreement’ were not plausible or credible. It is quite clear there was never any such agreement and it is only the Duke who has ever asserted there was.
“Mr Justice Fancourt then dismissed the duke’s phone hacking claims against both the News Of The World and The Sun on the grounds that the claim had been brought too late.
“This substantially reduces the scope of his legal claim. The exact nature and scope of any trial of the remainder will be the subject of further hearings.”
Harry was not in court for Thursday’s ruling.
