Prince Harry drops libel claim against UK publisher

by Judy Kurtz - 01/19/24 12:52 PM ET

FILE - Prince Harry leaves the High Court after giving evidence in London, on June 6, 2023. Prince Harry won his phone hacking lawsuit Friday Dec. 15, 2023 against the publisher of the Daily Mirror and was awarded over 140,000 pounds ($180,000) in the first of his several lawsuits against the tabloids to go to trial. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File) — FILE – Prince Harry leaves the High Court after giving evidence in London, on June 6, 2023. Prince Harry won his phone hacking lawsuit Friday Dec. 15, 2023 against the publisher of the Daily Mirror and was awarded over 140,000 pounds ($180,000) in the first of his several lawsuits against the tabloids to go to trial. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)

Prince Harry is dropping his libel suit against Associated Newspapers Ltd., the publisher of the Mail on Sunday.

The 39-year-old British royal had alleged in a 2022 claim that the newspaper publisher, one of the largest in the United Kingdom, had libeled him in an article detailing his security arrangements.

The Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday’s sister title, claimed on Friday that Harry had “abandoned his case just hours before a deadline for his lawyers to pass over a list of relevant documents.”

The U.K. tabloid said Harry could be on the hook for the publisher’s legal fees.

A spokesperson for Harry told ITK that rather than focus on what they described as Mail on Sunday’s false claims from years ago, the father of two was centering his attention on the safety of his family and on a separate lawsuit challenging the U.K. government’s decision to strip him of his security detail.

The representative disputed the Daily Mail’s report about Harry paying potential legal fees, saying speculation about costs in the case was premature.

—Updated at 1:48 p.m.

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