Prince Harry's Big Loss: Royal's Libel Claim Against U.K. Tabloid Must Go to Trial

Prince Harry's legal battle against the tabloid industry continues to intensify, as the Duke of Sussex accused the Associated Newspapers Ltd of misrepresentation after they published an article about the royal's demand to have safeguards in the U.K.

"Prince Harry has lost an attempt to get part of the Mail on Sunday publisher's defense thrown out in a libel case," BBC shared in an article.

According to Harry, the column suggested he "lied" and "cynically" tried to shift the public's perception of the scenario.

Despite Harry's concerns, a judge of the High Court said the media conglomerate's honest opinion defense had "a real prospect of success and should go forward to trial."

The controversial headline stated the Duke of Sussex "tried to keep his legal fight with the government over police bodyguards a secret," but his "PR machine tried to put a positive spin on the dispute."

Harry shut down the assertion that he only offered to finance his personnel after beginning his legal case with the Home Office in 2021, and he claimed he made the offering at a meeting in Sandringham the year prior.

"The Defendant [ANL] has a real prospect, at trial, of demonstrating that the Duke of Sussex had not made an offer to the Government to pay for his security before he began his proceedings for judicial review," Justice Nicklin said in his judgment.

Harry's desire to have police protection has been criticized by royal experts due to his decision to step down as a senior-level royal.

“It boils down to essentially Prince Harry, believing that he's entitled to all of the perks and privileges of royalty without any of the obligations and responsibility," Rafe Heydel-Mankoo said on GB News.

The historian saw the cultural significance of Harry's choice to take action against the Home Office to keep aspects of his royal privileges.

“It's also actually worth pointing out that this is Prince Harry taking his father's government to court. And that's completely without precedent, we’ve never seen a royal do anything like this," he continued.

Court documents revealed the duke implied the government's treatment of him was arbitrary.

“Prince Harry is alleging that he's been treated unfairly, that he's been singled out," Heydel-Mankoo explained. "The Home Office is quite clear and refutes that and says, you are no longer a working member of the royal family and therefore your security status must be downgraded.”

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The TV personality later noted that celebrities and dignitaries often visit the U.K. without risking their lives or well-being.

“One of the reasons we’ve heard was because he didn't think that the security would be sufficient for him, but it was fine for the President of France," he said. "They made no complaints about that. The First Lady of America didn't have any problems with security."

“For some reason, Harry thinks that he's a special case. And he has to realize, of course, that he's no longer as important as he once was," he added.

Documents were shared by the BBC.