Prince Harry’s claims that The Sun placed “spying” and “tracking” devices to monitor him have been dismissed by a High Court judge.
Judge Fancourt said Harry had not provided “any details” to support the claims in his long-running complaint against the publication.
The Duke of Sussex is suing the publisher of The Sun, along with 40 other plaintiffs, alleging his personal information was hacked or obtained illegally to obtain stories.
A trial is scheduled for January, but in a preliminary ruling Friday, the judge denied Harry permission to include certain allegations in his case.
The duke had already withdrawn a complaint about hidden microphones in his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy’s car.
Prince Harry’s (pictured May 2024) claims that The Sun placed ‘eavesdropping’ and ‘tracking’ devices to monitor him have been rejected by a High Court judge.
The Duke of Sussex pictured on his four-day solo tour to South Africa on October 3
Prince Harry and his lawyer David Sherborne leave the Rolls Building at the Royal Courts of Justice in June 2023.
The latest version of Harry’s “particulars of claim”, a legal document setting out details of the allegations he is making, contained only “generalised” allegations about phone hacking, Judge Fancourt said.
In a written ruling, he said: “No details are provided regarding phone hacking and a specific previous allegation in relation to Chelsy Davy’s car has been withdrawn.”
“Permission is denied for allegations of planting insects in rooms and residences and of insects or tracking devices in automobiles, as no details have been provided regarding such allegations.”
The judge also denied Harry permission to include the words “and/or the use of listening and tracking devices” in his claim, because the duke had not provided “any details of these allegations.”
It comes after Judge Fancourt dismissed Harry’s phone hacking allegations last year because the duke had waited too long before launching his legal case.
Harry had protested that a “secret agreement” by Buckingham Palace had prevented him from bringing his case earlier, but the judge ruled that such an agreement was “implausible” and rejected Harry’s bid to use it as a reason for his late claim.
The duke, 40, who brought the case in 2019, may proceed to trial on the basis of other types of illegal information gathering he alleges.
Prince Harry leaves the Royal Courts of Justice in London, March 30, 2023
The Duke of Sussex and George Sibotshiwe attend a Sentebale reception and panel discussion at the Saxon Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa
The Duke of Sussex (pictured in Johannesburg) is suing the publisher of The Sun, along with 40 other plaintiffs, alleging his personal information was hacked or obtained illegally to obtain stories.
Yesterday, the judge described the long-running case as resembling a campaign between “two stubborn but well-resourced armies” that is taking up “more than appropriate” court time.
He wrote: “I have already indicated to the parties that this individual claim… while raising important issues, is beginning to absorb more than an adequate share of the court’s resources, contrary to the requirement of the overriding objective of treating cases fairly and at a proportionate cost.
‘Now he’s doing it.
‘The claim sometimes looks more like an entrenched front in a campaign between two stubborn but well-resourced armies than a claim for misuse of private information.
“It is unsatisfactory, to say the least, that the court should be faced for the second time with having to resolve such a large amount of disputed material regarding amendments to a case brief.”
He granted the duke’s lawyers permission to make certain modifications to the way their case was presented, while defending some of the editor’s objections.
He also rejected some of The Sun’s objections, saying it was unreasonable to expect Harry to provide more details of the allegations when he could not know about them if, as he claims, the newspaper has been hiding them.
And Judge Fancourt warned that the January trial must go ahead or be settled out of court and will not be delayed any further than it already has been.
