Part of the Duke of Sussex’s damages claim against the publisher of the Sun over allegations of unlawful information gathering can go ahead to trial, a high court judge has ruled.
Mr Justice Fancourt ruled on Thursday that Harry could not bring his claim against News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of the Sun and now-defunct News Of The World, in relation to phone hacking.
However, the judge said the rest of his claim, relating to other allegations of unlawful information gathering such as use of private investigators, could be tried.
He refused to allow the duke to amend his case to rely on a “secret agreement” between Buckingham Palace and senior NGN executives.
Justice Fancourt’s ruling comes after a hearing in April, where NGN asked the judge to throw out the case, arguing it was brought too late because he should have known sooner he had a potential claim.
In his written ruling, the judge concluded: “I am satisfied that there is no reasonable prospect of the duke proving at trial that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have discovered facts that would show that he had a worthwhile claim for voicemail interception in relation to each of the News of the World and the Sun.”
“He already knew that in relation to the News Of The World, and he could easily have found out by making basic inquiries that he was likely to have a similar claim in relation to articles published by the Sun.”
A spokesperson for News Group Newspapers [NGN] said: The high court has today, in a significant victory for News Group Newspapers (“NGN”), dismissed the Duke of Sussex’s phone-hacking claims against both the News of the World and the Sun.
“As we reach the tail-end of litigation, NGN is drawing a line under disputed matters, some of which date back more than 20 years ago.
“In arguing his case, the Duke of Sussex had alleged a ‘secret agreement’ existed between him/Buckingham Palace and NGN, which stopped NGN from asserting that the duke’s claim had been brought too late.
“The judge found his claims in relation to the alleged “secret agreement” were not plausible or credible.
“It is quite clear there was never any such agreement and it is only the duke who has ever asserted there was.
“Mr Justice Fancourt then dismissed the duke’s phone-hacking claims against both the News of the World and the Sun on the grounds that the claim had been brought too late.
“This substantially reduces the scope of his legal claim. The exact nature and scope of any trial of the remainder will be the subject of further hearings.”
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