Prince Harry accepts apology, wins 'significant damages' in UK libel suit

Britain’s Prince Harry on February 1 accepted an apology and settled a legal dispute with the British tabloid Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline. Prince Harry had sued the media outlets for libel over two articles published in October which claimed that he had snubbed the Royal Marines after stepping down as a senior royal. According to CNN, the articles had claimed that Harry had “not been in touch” with the forces since his last appearance as an honorary Marine in March and that the military leaders were considering replacing him as Captain-General of the Royal Marines. 

On Monday, Jenny Afia, who is a lawyer for Prince Harry, said that the “baseless, false and defamatory” stories published constituted not only a personal attack on the Duke’s character but also wrongly brought into question his service to this country. She added that Prince Harry has settled the legal dispute, accepting “significant damages” over the article. 

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Damages to be donated to Invictus Fames Foundation 

Prince Harry has served for a decade in the British army and his lawyers said that the articles caused considerable damage to his reputation and credibility with veterans. Afia said that the Duke was “proud to have served in the British armed forces in Her Majesty’s name” and has maintained active links with those forces ever since and will continue to do so in the future. She further also informed that Prince harry has requested to donate the damages to the Invictus Games Foundation, a charity for wounded or sick servicemen and women that he founded. 

The settlement amount was not made public. It is, however, worth noting that that Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have cut off all dealings with four big tabloid newspapers including the Daily Mail in April 2020 after years of strained relations. In a separate case, Meghan is suing Associated Newspapers for an invasion of privacy and copyright infringement over articles that published portions of a letter she wrote to her father, Thomas Markle, after her marriage to Harry in 2018. The couple has had a rough time with the media since getting together and have repeatedly spoken out against what they say is the relentless and aggressive coverage of Meghan in particular. 

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