Prince Harry has been accused of betraying his family and his country by investigative biographer Tom Bower, following the High Court's dismissal of all 14 of the Duke of Sussex's claims against the publisher of the Daily Mail. The ruling, delivered on Tuesday, saw Harry join other high-profile figures including Sir Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley in an unsuccessful attempt to sue for unlawful information gathering.
Harry's 'churlish reaction' condemned
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Express after the verdict, Bower, author of Betrayal: Power, Deceit and the Fight for the Future of the Royal Family, warned that Harry had caused himself 'huge harm'. He stated: 'I think that he didn't tell the truth in court. I think that the judge rightly found against him and all the others; he was completely misled by Sherborne, his lawyer, and the Hacked Off group, who used him.'
Bower continued: 'But I think far worse, he's betrayed his family, he's betrayed the country, he's betrayed the institution of the monarchy, and I think that this case is entirely the man, the prince, who was much beloved in England by the English, who entertained children and was a smiling prince and the man of the people. I think this case just completely destroyed his reputation as someone who could be a trusted and loyal Brit.'
The author described Harry's reaction as 'churlish', noting that he accused the judge—'a man of impeccable standing, and, I must remind you, the King's judge in the King's court'—of engineering a 'whitewash' when in fact Harry lost because he 'couldn't provide any evidence'.
Harry and Lawrence issue joint statement
After the verdict was made public, Prince Harry joined forces with fellow claimant Baroness Doreen Lawrence, the mother of Stephen Lawrence, a black British teenager murdered in a racist attack in 1993, to issue a damning statement. It began: 'We came to court seeking justice and accountability. But we have received neither. This judgment represents a complete reversal of the position which previous judges have taken in relation to the hacking claims successfully brought against both News Group Newspapers and Mirror Group Newspapers, who were represented by, at the time, the judge who made this decision.'
The statement continued: 'It is a complete and obvious whitewash, but sadly not altogether unexpected. However, the lengths to which the court has gone to exonerate the Mail is as shocking as it is totally unwarranted. When the court says there is not sufficient evidence of wrongdoing, despite the documents showing otherwise, then one does wonder how justice was ever going to be achieved.'
Impact on Harry's reputation
Bower's comments underscore the severity of the reputational damage Harry faces. The Duke, who gave evidence at the High Court earlier this year, has seen his standing plummet in the wake of the ruling. The author's claim that Harry 'betrayed the country' reflects a growing sentiment among critics that the prince's legal battles have undermined his public image. The case, which involved allegations of phone hacking and other unlawful practices, has been closely watched as a test of press accountability in the UK.
The High Court's decision to dismiss all claims means that the publisher, Associated Newspapers, has been cleared of the allegations. Harry and the other claimants had argued that the Mail had engaged in widespread unlawful information gathering, but the judge found insufficient evidence to support their case.
