Prince Harry dealt major blow in his court case against publisher of The Sun

Prince Harry has been dealt a major blow in his lawsuit against the publishers of The Sun over claims of unlawful information gathering. A judge has told him that he cannot broaden his legal action against News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of the Sun and the now defunct News of the World.

Barristers representing various individuals suing the company, including the Duke of Sussex, claimed earlier this year that Rupert Murdoch knew of unlawful activity as early as 2004 but “turned a blind eye” to the allegations while overseeing a “culture of impunity” at the publisher. They asked the court in March to update parts of their case after the release of further information. NGN, which also published the defunct News Of The World, denies the accusations, with its lawyers previously telling the court the new allegations were a “scurrilous and cynical attack”.

But on Tuesday, Mr Justice Fancourt ruled the individual allegations against Mr Murdoch should not be allowed to be taken to trial, stating they added “nothing material” to the case and that some amounted to a “new case”, but said some other amendments could be made. He said: “I am disposed to take a restrictive approach to allowing the proposed amendments, on grounds of delay and because permitting all the amendments will either prejudice the trial date or at least create an unlevel playing field on which NGN is running uphill to be ready for the full trial.

“The claimants have sought to introduce a vast quantity of new allegations and material, much of which is likely to be highly contentious, and there is no prospect of the time listed for trial accommodating these allegations.” Mr Justice Fancourt also ruled on Tuesday that Harry can make “some” changes to the details of his case against NGN – which is scheduled to go to trial at the start of next year. Barristers for the duke asked the High Court earlier this year to change the details of his individual claim, including new allegations that NGN unlawfully gathered private information on the 39-year-old from as early as 1994 up to 2016.

The judge said the duke could not introduce new allegations from 1994, 1995 and 2016 or new allegations of phone hacking. But he said Harry could “in principle” change the details of his case to name “certain further journalists and private investigators”, and bring allegations of “landline voicemail interception”. In his judgement, he said: “I will therefore grant permission for some of the amendments that the Duke seeks to make but not others.” The news from the High Court this morning comes after a judge ruled rejected the publisher’s bid to push back the trial last month.

Mr Justice Fancourt said the January 2025 trial date had been set in November 2022 and that NGN had left it too late to raise an objection. The judge said a large amount of preparation had already been done “at considerable expense” with a view to all issues being tried next year. Harry, and others, allege have accused the Murdoch-owned publishers of unlawful news gathering, including using private investigators, blagging confidential information, burglary and intercepting phone calls and voicemails.

The King’s son claims he experienced “overwhelming intrustion” into his private life from the age of nine, and alleges his wife Meghan Markle was also targeted by unlawful activity. The Duke of Sussex’s team previously told the court that NGN unlawfully gathered information from 1996 to 2011, including details of interactions with his family and former girlfriend, Chelsy Davy.

His lawyer David Sherborne also said additional articles dating from 1994 to 2016 showed evidence of unlawful activity. He is awaiting a ruling on whether the parameters can be extended to include these dates. Mr Justice Fancourt previously told Harry he can’t pursue claims of phone hacking by NGN, but could continue his wider case concerning unlawful information gathering.