Prince Harry has endured a week of significant personal and legal setbacks, including a comprehensive loss in his privacy case against the publisher of the Daily Mail and being told he is no longer welcome to stay at Buckingham Palace during his UK visit. The developments mark a notable shift in his relationship with the royal family and the British media.
Legal defeat and financial consequences
Mr Justice Nicklin threw out all 97 allegations made by Harry and six other high-profile individuals, including Elton John, Liz Hurley, and Baroness Lawrence, in their privacy case against the Daily Mail's publisher. The judge ruled that not one of the allegations had been proven. The group had accused the newspaper of bugging and hacking their phones, aided by the Hacked Off campaign. Now, the Daily Mail is seeking to recover the £50 million costs of the court case, for which Harry is likely to be liable.
Carole Malone, writing for Express, described the outcome as a "humiliating setback" and noted that the plaintiffs now appear "vindictive, humiliated, and more than a little bit stupid." Harry has refused to accept the loss, claiming it was a "whitewash" and that the entire Establishment was against him.
King Charles's decision to 'say no more'
The week also saw King Charles take a firm stance against Harry after a series of logistical disputes over the prince's UK visit. Harry was initially invited to stay at Buckingham Palace but missed the acceptance deadline. He later informed the King on Saturday that he would not stay at the Palace due to security concerns, despite Buckingham Palace being one of the most secure buildings in the country with armed guards present.
After Harry's formal rejection, staff who had prepared rooms for Meghan Markle and the children were reassigned. Hours later, Harry changed his mind and requested to stay alone for one night, but the Palace refused. Team Sussex then briefed that Harry would be staying, seemingly attempting to pressure the King into reversing the decision, but the Palace immediately clarified he would not.
Malone writes that the King was "hacked off" not only by the disrespect shown to him but also by the disdain for the staff who had worked to prepare the rooms. She concludes that King Charles finally said "No more" after enduring years of "to-ing, the fro-ing, the chaos, the psychodrama, the media circus, the frustration and the rudeness" brought by Harry and Meghan.
Hypocrisy and reputation
Malone criticizes Harry for suing over privacy invasion while having published intimate family secrets in his memoir Spare and for boasting about killing 25 Taliban fighters. She questions the sincerity of his claims about a terror threat, suggesting his own actions may have contributed. The article also highlights the ongoing leaks from Team Sussex to pet media outlets, contrasting with Harry's complaints about privacy invasion.
Despite months of talk about reconciliation with his father, Harry's actions during this visit have undermined that goal. Malone argues that if he truly wanted his children to meet their grandfather, he could have arranged a quiet, private meeting instead of creating a security circus. The visit, intended to promote the Invictus Games, instead focused on Harry's grievances.
Long-term implications
Malone concludes that Harry has reduced himself to a "spiteful irrelevance" to both his family and the British people. She notes that he has not changed or grown up in the past five years and that the royal family is no longer interested in the chaos he causes. The article suggests that Harry's actions have permanently damaged any chance of reconciliation.
