Prince Harry’s libel claim against Mail on Sunday publisher must go to trial, judge rules
Prince Harry’s libel case against the Mail on Sunday over an article about security arrangements must go to trial, a judge at London’s High Court has ruled – rejecting the duke’s bid to have the publisher’s defence thrown out.
The Duke of Sussex, 39, is suing Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over an article published in February 2022, covering his legal challenge against the Home Office following a decision to change his publicly funded security arrangements when visiting the UK.
The story claimed Harry “tried to keep details of his legal battle to reinstate his police protection secret from the public”.
Harry and Meghan pictured during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022
His lawyers have said this was “an attack on his honesty and integrity” and would undermine his charity work and efforts to tackle misinformation online.
ANL argues the article expressed an “honest opinion” and did not cause “serious harm” to Harry’s reputation, and is contesting the claim.
At a hearing in March, the duke’s lawyers launched a bid to have ANL’s defence thrown out and for judgment to be granted in his favour without a trial.
However, in a written ruling on Friday, Mr Justice Nicklin refused to “strike out” ANL’s defence – concluding the publisher had a “real prospect” of arguing its case that previous press statements from Harry provided a “misleading” description of his case against the Home Office.
In summary, the judge said: “The Duke of Sussex’s claim will now go through its remaining pre-trial phases and, unless resolved in some other way, to a trial at some point in 2024.”
A hearing dealing with the consequences of the judge’s decision is expected to be held on Tuesday.
The case against the Home Office
The judgment comes a day after the High Court finished hearing a separate but related case about the security arangements themselves. As well as suing ANL about its article on the subject, the duke is also taking legal action against the Home Office over the decision that meant he would no longer be given the “same degree” of personal protective security when visiting, made in February 2020.
In that case, he claims the decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) – which comes under the Home Office’s remit – was “unlawful and unfair”.
A different judge is dealing with that case and a judgment is expected at a later date.
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Harry now lives in California with wife Meghan and their children Archie and Lilibet, after stepping back from his royal duties and leaving the UK in 2020.
The Mail on Sunday first reported that he was taking legal action against the Home Office in January 2022.
A press statement had been issued on behalf of the duke saying he and his family were “unable to return to his home” due to a lack of police protection.
“The duke first offered to pay personally for UK police protection for himself and his family in January of 2020 at Sandringham,” it added. “That offer was dismissed. He remains willing to cover the cost of security, as not to impose on the British taxpayer.”
A Home Office document prepared for a preliminary hearing in Harry’s case against the department said his offer of private funding “notably was not advanced to Ravec” at the time of a visit to the UK by the duke in 2021, or in any pre-action correspondence.
This was “a crushing rebuttal to Harry’s initial public statement that implied he had always been willing to foot the bill”, the Mail on Sunday article claimed.
Justin Rushbrooke KC, representing the duke in his case against ANL, said in written submissions for the March hearing that the publisher’s defence “rests upon two provably false premises” relating to the press statement.
Andrew Caldecott KC, representing ANL, previously said the bid to end their defence without a trial was “wholly without merit” and that “the whole case is built on sand”.
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UK drivers are “confused” by the country’s electric car transition, ministers are being warned.
Although most drivers are not hostile towards electric vehicles (EVs), many are confused about what changes are coming and when, according to new research from the AA.
In a survey of more than 14,000 AA members, 7% thought the government was banning the sale of used petrol and diesel cars.
Around a third thought manual EVs exist, despite them all being automatic.
More than one in five said they would never buy an EV.
The government’s plan for increasing the number of electric vehicles being driven in the UK focuses heavily on increasing the supply of the vehicles.
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What you can do to reach net zero
In 2024, at least 22% of new cars and 10% of new vans sold by each manufacturer in the UK had to be zero-emission, which generally means pure electric.
Each year, those percentages will rise, reaching 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans in 2030.
Manufacturers will face fines of £15,000 per vehicle if electric vehicle sales fall short of 28% of total production this year.
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By 2035, all new cars and vans will be required to be fully zero emission, according to the Department for Transport.
Second-hand diesel and petrol cars will still be allowed to be sold after this date, and their fuel will still be available.
There are more EVs – but will people buy them?
In February, 25% of new cars were powered purely by battery and in January, they made up 21% of all new cars registered in the UK.
But despite the growth of electric sales, manufacturers continue to warn that the market will not support the growth required to hit government EV targets, and called for consumer incentives and the extension of tax breaks.
The AA suggested the government’s plan focuses on “supply but does little to encourage demand for EVs”.
It called on ministers to co-ordinate a public awareness campaign alongside the motoring industry which directly targets drivers who doubt the viability of EVs.
“Our message to government is more needs to be done to make EVs accessible for everyone,” said Jakob Pfaudler, AA chief executive.
Which? head of consumer rights Sue Davis said: “When it comes to making sustainable choices such as switching to an electric car, our research shows that people are often held back by high costs, complex choices or uncertainty.
“The government needs to provide the right information on electric vehicles and other sustainable choices so that people have the confidence to switch.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We’re investing over £2.3bn to help industry and consumers make a supported switch to EVs.
“This includes installing a public charge point every 28 minutes, keeping EV incentives in the company car tax regime to 2030, and extending 100% first-year allowances for zero-emission cars for another year.
“Second-hand EVs are also becoming cheaper than ever, with one in three available under £20,000 and 21 brand new models available for less than £30,000.
“We’re seeing growing consumer confidence as a result.”
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