Prince Harry has lost his long-running privacy lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, in a significant defeat for the royal's continuing campaign against the British press. Harry was among a group of seven high-profile claimants — including Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost, Doreen Lawrence and Sir Simon Hughes — who alleged in a 2022 suit that they were victims of unlawful information gathering, such as phone hacking, tapped landlines and bugged homes and cars. The court ruled that all the claimants had failed to prove their claims, and Associated Newspapers, which had strenuously denied the allegations, hailed the outcome as a "magnificent vindication" of the Daily Mail's journalism.

Judge Nicklin criticised the way parts of the case were argued, particularly an allegation that Associated employees had lied during the Leveson Inquiry, saying such serious claims were "not consistently anchored to identified statements" and had shifted into broader criticisms. He noted that Harry at times strayed beyond factual evidence into advancing arguments, but accepted the quality of his evidence overall. The 11-week trial, held earlier this year, is estimated to have cost around $40 million, with a separate hearing on costs to follow. The judgment adds to Harry's mixed record against the press — he previously secured a partial victory against Mirror Group Newspapers and settled with News Group Newspapers — and comes as he still faces a defamation suit from Sentebale, the charity he founded.