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Celebrity

24th Feb 2022

Why is Prince Harry taking legal action against Daily Mail?

Ellen Fitzpatrick

Here’s what’s happening.

Prince Harry has launched legal action against Associated Newspapers Limited, the company that owns the Daily Mail.

The Duke of Sussex has launched a High Court libel action against the paper, according to the court documents and the claims are regarding an article that was published in the UK Mail on Sunday on February 20, 2022.

The story was regarding Harry’s ongoing fight to get his police protection reinstated in the UK, with the headline reading: “Revealed: How Harry tried to keep his legal fight over bodyguards secret.”

Royal correspondent Omid Scobie tweeted: “Harry’s court filing details action against the Mail on Sunday (who are currently paying out substantial damages to Meghan) over a ‘defamatory’ report claiming he lied about offering to pay for police protection in June and tried to hide his Home Office litigation.”

This comes only two months after the Mail on Sunday was forced to print a full page statement regarding Meghan Markle’s copyright victory against them in court.

The actress sued the same publisher when more than five articles reproduced parts of a “private letter” she sent to her father Thomas Markle in August 2018.

The Duchess of Sussex won her case back in February of 2021 when the High Court ruled that the publication of her letter was unlawful.

Associated Newspapers challenged the ruling at the Court of Appeal in London and argued that the case should go to trial only a few months later.

It was supported by new evidence from Jason Knauf, the former communications secretary to the Sussexes, who claimed the Duchess wrote the letter with the understanding it may become public.

The publisher’s appeal was dismissed after a three day hearing in November.

They were then ordered to print a statement on the front page of the Mail On Sunday and a notice on page three of the paper stating it “infringed her copyright”.

It was published on December 26th, and it read: “The Duchess of Sussex wins her legal case for copyright infringement against Associated Newspapers for articles published in The Mail on Sunday and posted on Mail Online – SEE PAGE 3.”

The statement on page three then read: “Following a hearing on 19-20 January, 2021, and a further hearing on 5 May, 2021, the Court has given judgment for the Duchess of Sussex on her claim for copyright infringement.

“The Court found that Associated Newspapers infringed her copyright by publishing extracts of her handwritten letter to her father in The Mail on Sunday and on Mail Online. Financial remedies have been agreed.”