London – After going undercover in the UK to attend some of the Queen’s Jubilee events with his wife Meghan Markle and children Archie and Lilibet, Prince Harry is back in the headlines for another lawsuit against a British tabloid newspaper.
This time Duke of Sussex’s target is Associated Newspapers, owner of the Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail and Mail Online tabloids.
Lawyers allege that a report published in February about an official security requirement while in the country, which the British government denied, was defamatory.
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Magazine published news about Harry’s safety
The report pointed to Harry’s attempt to keep the security discussion with the Home Office out of the public eye.
At the first hearing of the case this Thursday (9), Harry presented to the Supreme Court a set of preliminary questions that gave the substance of the legal claim.
The practice of prosecuting newspapers has never been embraced by the royal family, which has a policy of gossiping and attacking silently. But Harry and Meghan have taken a different path since they began to be annoyed by criticism from British tabloids.
In their famous interview with the American presenter Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, they pointed to the harassment and racism of the British press as one of the reasons for leaving the UK.
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Harry and Meghan have already won a lawsuit against the tabloid
Dissatisfied with the negative publicity of their activities, they have already filed several lawsuits against the newspapers.
In December, the same publisher lost a multi-million dollar lawsuit over an article that reproduced a letter Meghan Markle sent to her father shortly after her royal wedding in 2018.
The court ruled that the publication of the letter by the Mail On Sunday newspaper was “excessive and therefore illegal”.
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In the new lawsuit filed with Associated Newspapers, In a petition to the Supreme Court, the prince’s lawyer, Justin Rushbrooke, argued that the February report was “slanderous” because Harry was “lying” and trying to manipulate public opinion on the issue in an “inappropriate and cynical way”.
In a written complaint filed with the court through his lawyer, Harry said the allegations had caused him “a serious heartache, embarrassment and anguish that continues to this day”.
In the lawsuit filed against the government, which is the subject of the report, the Duke appealed to the Supreme Court to overturn the National Home Secretary’s decision, which denied police protection against the Sussexes, even with payment.
Harry claimed that private security would not have access to British intelligence data that could indicate the risk of attack on his family.
The government’s position was based on the fact that they were no longer part of the core of the monarchy with their official function.
Harry and Meghan living in the USA would not have the right to security
Harry, 37, and his wife, Meghan Markle, 40, have been living in California since 2019, causing them to lose their protections paid for by UK taxpayers.
Reacting to the request, the government said “the personal safety of the police is not privately funded”.
Last week, they returned to the country for Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations and were virtually not circulated or seen in public.
The couple’s participation in events decreased. They were invited to the Thanksgiving Mass at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday, but sat in a second wing, away from close family members and surrounded by cousins, leading to speculation that their family relationship was fraying.
His daughter, Lilibet, turned one year old and was due to be introduced to her great-grandmother, but no photos of the meeting were released.
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Harry and Meghan were also spotted at Buckingham Palace during the Trooping the Color air parade, but did not join the Queen and Prince Charles and William on the main balcony. It was only photographed from afar from the windows of another room.
According to Tabloid, Harry used to lie to the public
The headline of the story that sparked Harry’s lawsuit against the tabloid was: “Exclusive: How Prince Harry Tried to Keep His Legal Fight With The Government Over Police Bodyguards To Put A Positive Spin On The Dispute.”
Justin, the lawyer who leads the Duke of Sussex’s legal team Rushbrooke said the reports claimed that the Duke “lied in his initial public statements that he was always willing to pay for police protection in the UK, while the true position, as Supreme Court documents reveal, was that he had simply done such a thing”. An offer came recently, following the start of their dispute and their visit to the UK in June 2021.”
The newspaper claimed that the Duke “showed inappropriate and lack of transparency, trying to keep his legal fight with the government secret from the public, including the fact that he expected British taxpayers to pay for police protection”. “on your behalf”.
In the lawsuit, the lawyer creates defamation, arguing that “the allegations that a person has lied to the public, manipulated the public, and tried to keep a secret that should have been public are serious and inclined to humiliate him in the eyes of the public.”
Associated Newspapers rebutted the allegations, arguing that “there are no signs of impropriety in any plausible reading of the article.”
And Harry is not portrayed as trying to keep the entire action against the Home Office secret.”
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The defense criticized Harry and Meghan’s PR team for allegedly misrepresenting the story, fueling the tabloid’s false news and confusion about the nature of the complaint.
At the end of Thursday’s hearing, the judge stated that he will decide on the preliminary issues at a later date and will determine the next steps in the case.
As with Meghan Markle, Harry might even win the case. But that doesn’t help improve its image with the public around a controversial issue like personal safety after the two moved to the US.
And because lawsuits attract the negative publicity that the monarchy least wants, it can create an even greater chasm with the family.
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source: Noticias
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