Prince Harry issues libel claim against Mail publisher weeks after Meghan Markle’s privacy win

Court filings show Harry filed a claim against Associated Newspapers

Harry recently launched a High Court bid over security (PA Wire)

Prince Harry has launched a High Court libel action against the publisher of the Daily Mail, weeks after his wife won a privacy battle.

Court filings show the Duke of Sussex filed a claim against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) on Wednesday afternoon.

It is understood the claim relates to an article published by The Mail On Sunday on Sunday February 20 relating to issues on his family’s security, under the headline “Revealed: How Harry tried to keep his legal fight over bodyguards secret”.

The duke is currently bringing privacy claims against News Group Newspapers, which publishes The Sun, and Mirror Group Newspapers, now Reach, which publishes The Mirror, over alleged phone hacking and unlawful information gathering.

The couple have previously raised concerns about the media (PA Archive)

Harry, 37, is also involved in litigation against the Home Office over his security arrangements when he is in the UK.

He is bringing a High Court challenge against a Home Office decision not to allow him to personally pay for police protection for himself and his family while in the UK.

The prince says he wants to bring his son Archie and baby daughter Lilibet to visit from the US, but his lawyers say he and his family are “unable to return to his home” because it is too dangerous.

It follows an incident in London in the summer of 2021 when his security was compromised after his car was chased by paparazzi photographers as he left a charity event.

His wife Meghan previously brought a successful privacy claim against ANL over articles that reproduced parts of a “personal and private” handwritten letter to her estranged father, Thomas Markle.

Meghan won her own court battle earlier this year (PA Archive)

Meghan was awarded £1 nominal damages, along with an undisclosed sum, which she donated to charity after winning her case.

ANL was also ordered to issue a front-page apology and pay the duchess’s legal costs.

An appeal by ANL was dismissed by senior judges in December last year.

A spokesperson for the duke said: “I can confirm the duke has filed a complaint against Associated Newspapers Limited.”