Prince Harry loses key plank of UK News case

Prince Harry has lost a major part of his legal claim of phone hacking against the News Group Newspapers after a judge described his evidence as ‘vague and limited’’.

Prince Harry. Picture: AFP

Prince Harry has lost a major part of his legal claim of phone hacking against the News Group Newspapers after a judge described his evidence as “vague and limited’’.

On Thursday Justice Timothy Fancourt handed down a High Court ruling that supported the argument presented by NGN – owned by Rupert Murdoch – that Harry was aware of the phone-hacking scandal in 2012 and should have initiated his case sooner.

Harry had argued that he wasn’t able to bring the hacking allegations to court any sooner than in late 2019 because of a secret deal with Buckingham Palace, a claim the judge ruled to be “implausible”.

Justice Fancourt threw this part of Harry’s claim out.

Under UK law, claimants usually have six years after a privacy breach in which to take action. Harry was claiming he was a victim of phone hacking as early as the to the mid-1990s and up to 2016.

NGN described the judge’s findings as a significant victory as it substantially reduces the scope of the legal claim. NGN has denied that any unlawful activity took place at the Sun.

Harry will be unable to proceed with his claims that he was a victim of phone hacking at The Sun and the News of the World. However, he will be able to proceed with his allegations that NGN used private investigators and blagging.

Justice Fancourt said Harry had a realistically arguable case he didn’t know about methods such as “blagging of confidential information from third parties, and instructing private investigators to do these or other unlawful acts” and noted “it is not sufficiently clear at this stage that it (the court claim) was issued too late”.

He ruled this aspect should be decided at trial that will likely be heard in 2024 or 2025.

This legal action against NGN is in addition to other major claims Harry is making against British tabloids in the High Court. Recently he personally attended a court in London to present his claim against the Mirror Group describing the tabloids as “grotesque and sadistic” and impacting on his mental health. Other High Court claims have been lodged against the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday over alleged breaches of privacy.

Mr Murdoch is executive chairman of News Corp, publisher of The Australian.