Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, is suing The Sun’s publisher because he believes they used unlawful methods to collect information about him.
The Duke of Sussex, will have his case about alleged unlawful information gathering by The Sun’s publisher proceed to trial, as decided by the high court.
Harry, who is 38 years old, claims that journalists and private investigators hired by News Group Newspapers (NGN), the publisher of The Sun and the now-closed News Of The World, targeted him. He has filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for the damages caused.
During a hearing in April, News Group Newspapers (NGN) requested Mr. Justice Fancourt to dismiss the Duke’s case, claiming that he filed the lawsuit too late, as he should have been aware of his potential claim earlier.
In a recent ruling, the judge decided that Prince Harry’s claim regarding phone hacking could not proceed to trial. However, his claim over other allegations, such as the use of private investigators, will go to trial in January next year.
The judge also rejected Prince Harry’s request to use an alleged “secret agreement” between the royal family and senior executives associated with media mogul Rupert Murdoch as evidence in his claim.
Prince Harry has claimed that reporters and private investigators employed by The Sun and the now-closed News of the World used illegal methods to gather information about him.
In his written ruling, the judge wrote: “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.
“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.”
In the past few months, Prince Harry has been part of six legal battles in the high court.
He made claims against three big newspaper publishers for alleged illegal information gathering, and he also had legal disputes with the Home Office regarding his personal security.
