In 2019, Elton John suggested that Prince Harry seek legal representation outside of the royal family’s preferred law firms. Elton introduced Harry to David Sherborne and the rest is history. Sherborne has successfully represented Harry in his lawsuits against the Mirror Group, the Murdoch-owned NGN and the Mail (ANL). Harry’s years-long lawsuit against the Mail will go to trial starting next week. In 2023, Harry won the first part of his lawsuit against the Mirror so thoroughly, the Mirror had to settle out of court for the remainder of his hacking/blagging claims. Around this time last year, the Murdochs dramatically offered Harry a last-minute settlement worth eight-figures, and he got a public apology for himself and his late mother. As you can imagine, the British tabloids feel terrorized by that ginger, and they’re constantly crying about “why doesn’t he just stop suing us for all of the illegal sh-t we do, why doesn’t he know the rules??” Well, just days before Harry’s Mail trial begins, wouldn’t you know, Tom Sykes has a big exclusive about how this is the last of Harry’s hacking lawsuits.
Prince Harry will not launch any new legal actions against U.K. media after his latest Daily Mail suit ends, in a radical shift of media strategy, sources close to the Prince have told The Royalist.
The decision to pursue a less confrontational strategy with the U.K. media represents a huge change of direction, and, while not exactly a charm offensive, the revelation will add to speculation that he is planning a beefed-up U.K. operation using classic PR to change perceptions of him rather than aggressive (and costly) legal action.
If Harry genuinely wants to operate in Britain again, even in a limited or occasional capacity, remaining in open warfare with the press would make that largely impossible. Signposting an end to the legal blitzkrieg looks like sensible groundwork.
Meanwhile, there has been some absolutely epic pitch-rolling for Harry’s return-to-the-UK plans in a huge Us Weekly feature today, which says Harry “wishes he didn’t have to choose between his old life and his new one,” with a source insisting he has “no intention of returning to the royal fold full-time, but would be happy to step in when needed.” That hollow laughter you can hear is coming from Kensington Palace.
The same source adds that relations between Harry and Charles “are going in a good direction,” although this rather begs the question of why, if things really are moving in the right direction, aren’t they seeing each other next week?
But it’s the offer to help out with royal duties that is really worth paying attention to. It shows that Harry has not given up on his dream of being half in and half out of the royal family, and would like to do royal jobs again. We’ve seen this before. Harry has previously offered to step in and “help,” presenting himself as a kind of royal reserve player, a suggestion that reliably triggers deep anxiety inside the Palace. The last thing William wants is any revival of a half-in, half-out model, but this kite flying raises the possibility that Harry thinks the King might be persuaded to think differently.
I’m covering the Us Weekly cover story separately, suffice to say, it looks like William’s new crisis manager is already working overtime to preemptively scream, cry and throw up about “Harry is going to come back and no one will pay attention to Lord Peggington anymore!” The Us Weekly piece features dozens of quotes from a royalist who swears up and down that Harry wants nothing more than to return to merry olde England just so he can steal his brother’s thunder. William is so obvious and pathetic, my god.
As for the real “exclusive” from Sykes, about this Mail trial being the last of Harry’s legal actions against the British press… well, he already successfully sued the other tabloids. The few outlets which didn’t get sued: the Guardian, the Telegraph, the Times (sort of, it’s owned by NGN but Harry didn’t cite any Times articles to my knowledge) and the Express. I kind of believe Sykes is just tracking Harry’s lawsuits and he realized that this Mail trial is the only outstanding legal action Harry has left on his plate. So, no, I don’t think Harry is resolved to stop suing these a–holes, I think he feels like he’s accomplished what he needed to do and he’s ready to move on with his life. In California. “If Harry genuinely wants to operate in Britain again, even in a limited or occasional capacity, remaining in open warfare with the press would make that largely impossible…” What’s funny about that is after Harry visited his father last September, the press’s immediate volte-face was telling. They were never the ones steering this ship, they were following the Windsors’ lead more than anything.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
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