Prince Harry's legal battles with the press

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

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

Here is a breakdown of his legal cases:

- Mirror Group Newspapers -

The High Court in London ruled in December 2023 that Harry was a victim of phone hacking by journalists working for Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), and awarded him £140,600 ($179,600) in damages.

The judge agreed that 15 of 33 sample articles submitted by Harry as evidence in his lawsuit against MGN, which publishes The Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, were based on unlawfully gathered material.

Bosses at the Mirror "could and should have put a stop to it" but instead "turned a blind eye to what was going on, and positively concealed it", said the judge, as he awarded the prince damages and compensation "for the distress that he suffered".

However, the judge also said that his phone was "only hacked to a modest extent" between the end of 2003 to April 2009.

Harry, who was among a number of celebrity claimants seeking damages from Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) over unlawful information-gathering, called the verdict "vindicating and affirming".

An MGN spokesperson apologised to the prince for "historical wrongdoings" and said the ruling "gives the business the necessary clarity to move forward".
Associated Newspapers
Several claimants, including Harry and pop star Elton John, are taking legal action against the publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday tabloids over alleged breaches of privacy.

They accuse Associated Newspapers (ANL) of methods such as hiring private investigators, tapping phone calls and impersonating individuals to obtain medical information for articles. The allegations are firmly denied.

Lawyers for the claimants said the alleged unlawful acts were carried out from 1993 to 2011, but some took place as late as 2018.

The full trial could be held in early 2026.

- Libel claim over security -

In another lawsuit against the Daily Mail publisher, Harry brought a libel claim over an article about his separate legal battle with the British government over his security arrangements when he visits the UK.

The article published by The Mail on Sunday newspaper in February 2022 suggested Harry had tried to keep the legal challenge a secret.

ANL argued the article did not cause "serious" reputational harm and expressed an "honest opinion".

The Mail on Sunday in January 2024 said Harry had withdrawn his claim.
News Group Newspapers
Harry's case against News Group Newspapers (NGN) -- part of Rupert Murdoch's global media empire -- for unlawful information gathering had been due to go to trial this week.

But after a series of last minute adjournments, Harry, his co-claimant Labour lawmaker Tom Watson and NGN on Wednesday settled out of court.

The prince had claimed private investigators working for two tabloids owned by NGN -- The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World -- repeatedly targeted him unlawfully more than a decade ago.

In a statement, NGN offered a "full and unequivocal apology" to the prince for "serious intrusion" into the private lives of Harry and his mother Princess Diana by The Sun and also "phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them at the News of the World".

Harry's barrister David Sherborne said both parties had reached an agreement and NGN would pay "substantial damages".