Prince Harry won the first stage of a defamation suit against the publisher of Britain’s Mail on Sunday as a judge ruled on Friday that parts of a story about his fight for police protection in Britain were defamatory.
High Court Justice Matthew Niklin has yet to consider issues such as whether the story was accurate or in the public interest, the defense that the newspaper would be able to present at the next stage of proceedings.
The suit revolves around the newspaper’s coverage of a separate High Court action that Harry filed in Britain in an effort to compel authorities to provide police protection for the prince and his family.
The government withdrew round-the-clock security for the family after Harry and his wife Meghan left front-line royal duties and moved to California.
On February 20, 2022, the Mail on Sunday reported that Harry sought a “far-reaching secrecy order” to keep the details of his actions against the government a secret.
Despite public statements from his spin doctors that the prince was always willing to pay for police protection, the offer was not made in his initial bid to reverse the government’s decision, the newspaper said.
Harry claims the Mail on Sunday slandered him when he suggested the prince lied in his initial public statements about the trial against the government and that he had been allowed to make “false and misleading statements” by authorizing his representatives. Tried to mislead the public. “About his willingness to pay for police protection.
Niklin ruled that the article’s “natural or ordinary meaning” was defamatory. But he insisted that the decision did not apply to other issues in the case.
“This is the first stage of a defamation claim,” the judge wrote in his ruling.
“The next step would be for the defendant to file a defense of the claim. It will be a matter of determination later in the proceedings whether the claim succeeds or fails, and if so, on what grounds.”