The High Court of London has dismissed the lawsuit filed by Prince Harry and six other public figures, including Elton John, Liz Hurley and Doreen Lawrence, against Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher of the Daily Mail. The plaintiffs had accused the newspaper group of conducting years of illegal gathering of private information to write articles about them.

In a 436-page ruling, Judge Matthew Nicklin found that the plaintiffs had failed to prove that the tabloid obtained private information through illegal interceptions or other unlawful methods. According to the Court, the fact that a legitimate source for the published information was not demonstrated does not automatically mean it was obtained illegally.

The allegations concerned 55 articles published by the Daily Mail between 1993 and 2018. The plaintiffs' lawyers had sought not only compensation but also a formal acknowledgment of the publisher's direct responsibility and deliberate misconduct.

Prince Harry described the ruling as a cover-up. The verdict arrived on the first day of his visit to the United Kingdom. According to ANSA, no meeting with King Charles III has been scheduled so far.

Il Giornale reported that the High Court also cited the statute of limitations among the reasons for dismissing the case, and estimated the legal costs potentially faced by the plaintiffs at around 50 million pounds, though this figure has not been confirmed by other sources.

The decision marks a setback for the Duke of Sussex, who in recent years has pursued legal action against several British tabloids over alleged privacy violations.