Prince Harry drops libel case against Mail on Sunday: newspaper

Prince Harry could be on the nose for almost $1.5 million after he dramatically dropped a court case just hours before a crucial deadline.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain's High Court, in central London on March 28, 2023. (Photo by Daniel LEAL / AFP)

Prince Harry could have to pay $1.4m in costs after he sensationally dropped a libel case against a British newspaper at the last minute.

On Friday, he was due to hand over a raft of documents that could have been the focus of any upcoming trial when his lawyers said he had withdrawn the case.

The prince will no longer pursue London based Associated Newspapers, the owner of newspaper theMail on Sunday.

He brought the case over an article in February 2022 in the Mail which following a dispute with Britain's Home Office over the royal’s security arrangements.

Prince Harry has dropped a libel case against the Dail Mail. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)

The articles claimed the Duke of Sussex’s public relations team had tried to “spin” the Home Office dispute by claiming he had offered to personally pay for the police protection.

The Home Office stated it had received no such offer at that time. The prince’s legal team asked High Court judge Matthew Nicklin to rule in his favour without going to trial, but the request was rejected.

Harry’s axing of the case was revealed by the Mail.

“Today was the deadline for both sides to disclose a list of any relevant documents,” said the report.

“Instead, at 10.06am (on Friday, 9.06pm ADST), Harry’s lawyers informed the newspaper it had filed a notice with the court stating: ‘The Duke of Sussex discontinues all of this claim’,” it added.

The newspaper said that Harry, 39, would have to pay the newspaper’s £250,000 ($481,000) costs along with his own legal fees, estimating the total at “more than £750,000 ($1.44 million)”.

The prince has had a turbulent relationship with the media and holds the press responsible for the death of his mother Princess Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997 as she fled from paparazzi.

Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and relocated to California, in part blaming media attention for the move.

The Duke of Sussex arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain's High Court, in central London on March 28, 2023. (Photo by Daniel LEAL / AFP)

The prince has vowed to make reforming the British media his life’s mission and has waged several battles with UK tabloids.

In December, a court found Prince Harry was the victim of mobile phone hacking by the UK’s Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).

He was awarded £140,600 ($268,000) in damages at the High Court in London.

The Prince, along with a number of other celebrities, sued MGN, which publishes the UK’s Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People newspapers.

Prince Harry claimed he was targeted for 15 years and more than 140 stories published in MGN’s newspapers were a result of unlawful information gathering.

The trial only considered 33 of these, with Justice Timothy Fancourt ruling 15 of the sample articles were “the product of phone hacking … or the product of other unlawful information gathering”.

In his judgment, Justice Fancourt said Prince Harry had a “tendency” to assume all articles about him were the products of hacking, though he was right on some occasions.

“I have found the duke’s case of voicemail interception and unlawful information gathering proved in part only,” Justice Fancourt said.