Prince Harry’s Court Cases: Privacy Wars Against the Press
This week, Prince Harry traveled to the UK without his wife, Meghan Markle, or their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, to launch another front in his long-running war against the British press. He made an appearance in a London courtroom for his privacy-invasion trial against Associated Newspapers, one of Britain’s largest newspaper companies, and on Wednesday, he took to the witness stand to discuss the case.
The royal family spent most of the 20th century largely avoiding public litigation. Harry, though, has spent years aggressively challenging both the press and the government of his native contry, ever since he stopped getting legal advice from Queen Elizabeth II’s lawyers and instead hired his own legal representation.
Harry’s quest began in 2019, shortly after his wife launched her own battle against Associated Newspapers and The Mail on Sunday, alleging that the publisher breached her privacy and copyright. (Meghan would eventually emerge victorious in that lawsuit.) At the tail end of a trip to South Africa, Harry announced that he was suing News group newspapers and the Mirror Group, and the following spring, he added that he and Meghan would no longer be cooperating with reporters from many tabloids. His declaration shocked the global media—and would play a pivotal role in the dissolution