PRINCE Harry's High Court case was "pulled apart in a humiliating fashion" and will "only add to his woes", a source has claimed.
The Duke's reputation hit an all-time low as Mr Justice Fancourt blasted his “inconsistent factual case” and threw out his phone-hacking claim against News Group Newspapers.
Delivered at the imposing High Court building, bearing the Royal Coat of Arms, the judgement added Prince Harry had signed two “statements of truth” that were “inconsistent” with his evidence.
Adding to his sorrows, the Duke- who lives in California with his wife Meghan Markle and their two children Archie and Lilibet – have been dogged by claims on US gossip sites of marriage problems — which were denied by their reps.
But yesterday, a source commented: “This judgement will only add to Harry’s woes. Everything in the garden is not rosy and now the Prince has had his High Court evidence publicly pulled apart in a humiliating fashion.
Read our Prince Harry live blog below for the latest news and updates…
- By Jimmy Grant
News Group Newspapers' full statement
In a statement after Thursday’s ruling, News Group Newspapers said: “The High Court has today, in a significant victory for News Group Newspapers, dismissed The Duke of Sussex’s phone hacking claims against both the News of the World and The Sun.
“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.
“It is quite clear there was never any such agreement and it is only the Duke who has ever asserted there was.”
- By Jimmy Grant
Judge: 'It is not strong evidence'
Mr Justice Fancourt questioned how Prince Harry could claim he did not know about hacking, while also insisting he had been blocked from taking action by a supposed backroom deal.
The Duke's claim of a “secret agreement” between Buckingham Palace and newspaper execs was central to his legal argument.
He wrote: “The Duke is unable to say who on each side made the secret agreement, or even who told him about it: it might have been Gerrard Tyrell (a lawyer representing the royals) or it might have been another representative of the Royal Family.
“The evidence in support of the pleaded case is limited to that of the Duke. It is not strong evidence.
“One might have expected to see some evidence from Mr Tyrrell giving support to the Duke’s factual case, but there is none.”
NGN has hailed the ruling as a “significant victory”.
- By Jimmy Grant
Harry’s losing habit
Prince Harry also lost his bid to legally challenge the government’s decision preventing him from paying for UK police protection earlier this year.
Harry was stripped of the police security afforded to working members of the Royal Family following Megxit – when he and wife Meghan Markle stepped down from their official roles and moved to the US.
London‘s High Court ruled in March that the duke cannot seek a judicial review over whether he can pay for specialist police protection himself.
- By Jimmy Grant
Harry’s didn’t ‘reach necessary threshold of plausibility and cogency’
The 40-page Approved Judgement by High Court Judge Mr Timothy Fancourt — handed down at 10am on Thursday — has plunged Prince Harry into a crisis.
The damning ruling, the first time the evidence of a royal has been questioned so thoroughly, concluded Harry’s case had “not reached the necessary threshold of plausibility and cogency”.
It adds the “lack of credibility arises from: the unexplained lateness of the plea . . . the improbability of a secret agreement being made in the terms pleaded . . . the absence of any explanation for the new factual case being raised; and absence of any other witness or documentary evidence to support it.”
- By Jimmy Grant
Royal Family ‘worried’ about how Harry’s ‘coping’ with legal battles
Members of the Royal Family are “worried” about how Prince Harry has been “coping” with the stress of his seemingly endless legal battles, according to a source.
The source said: “There is a bit of a feeling Harry is spiralling out of control and all is not well.
“Members of his family are worried about how he is coping and his determination to keep having legal battles.”
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