A British High Court judge has dismissed a privacy lawsuit brought by Prince Harry and several other high-profile claimants against Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), publisher of The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday. The ruling, delivered on Tuesday, rejected allegations that ANL engaged in unlawful information gathering—including phone hacking, voicemail interception, and deceptive practices—to obtain private details about the claimants over a period spanning from the early 1990s to 2013.

The group of claimants included prominent figures such as Sir Elton John, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, and former government ministers. They accused the publisher's journalists and private investigators of illegally acquiring confidential information used in articles that intruded on their privacy. The legal action followed similar claims against other British newspaper groups, some of which had resulted in successful lawsuits related to illegal phone hacking and data breaches.

In his 436-page judgment, Mr Justice Matthew Nicklin found that the claimants failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that the disputed information had been obtained unlawfully. While acknowledging the personal impact of the coverage, the judge stated that suspicion alone was insufficient to establish wrongdoing and that defendants provided credible, lawful explanations for how sources were obtained. The court declined to comment on whether unlawful newsgathering had become widespread within the company, focusing instead on the merits of each article-related claim.

Prince Harry, who gave evidence during the trial in January, described suffering distress and intrusion over reports concerning his personal relationships prior to meeting his wife, Meghan Markle. During testimony, he expressed emotional frustration, recounting the alleged negative impact the press coverage had on him and his family. However, the judge noted that Harry and other claimants had limited direct evidence to support their claims of illegal conduct.

Following the verdict, Harry and Baroness Lawrence issued a joint statement calling the judgment a “complete and obvious whitewash” and criticised the court for what they described as an inconsistent ruling insufficiently aligned with the evidence presented. They expressed disappointment at the failure to achieve accountability and suggested that the court appeared to excuse the publisher despite documents they believed indicated misconduct.

ANL welcomed the ruling as a definitive victory, asserting that the case was “misguided” and had wasted extensive court time and resources. Paul Dacre, the publisher’s editor-in-chief, condemned the lawsuit as “lurid” and politically motivated, and indicated plans to seek recovery of costs estimated to exceed £50 million. Dacre also criticised certain claimants, notably Baroness Lawrence, for turning against the newspaper’s reporters, some of whom had campaigned for justice in high-profile cases, including the investigation into her son Stephen Lawrence’s murder. He commented on Prince Harry’s decision to complain about privacy breaches while publicly sharing vast personal details in his memoirs.

The case is part of a broader series of legal battles Prince Harry has engaged in with British media outlets following his and Meghan Markle’s departure from royal duties in 2020. He has previously won compensation in privacy cases against other publishers, including a successful claim regarding phone hacking against the Mirror Group in 2023 and a substantial out-of-court settlement from News Group Newspapers in 2025, which admitted unlawful activities connected to its titles.

The trial’s conclusion coincided with Prince Harry’s visit to the UK to promote the upcoming 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham. The court ruling adds to ongoing tensions surrounding Harry’s relationship with the British press and his family, and discussions about the future of privacy protections in the UK media landscape remain active. A hearing to determine legal costs is scheduled for later this month.