Prince Harry suffers fresh blow in bitter legal battle

The duke alleged he was targeted by journalists and private investigators working for Murdoch’s media outlet, and is among 42 claims to be brought against the tabloid.

The claimants asked the High Court earlier this year if they could update parts of their case following the release of further information. They argued News Group Newspapers (NGN) concealed evidence of phone hacking, making it impossible for them to sue sooner.

In today's judgement, Prince Harry was refused permission to add new allegations relating to 1994, 1995, and 2016.

He was also refused permission for other amendments that add to the allegations of phone hacking.

The father-of-two was additionally refused permission for amendments that only plead matters of evidence, including similar fact evidence on which the duke will seek to rely at trial, scheduled for January 2025.

In areas where Harry was granted permission for amendments include to name and make allegations against certain further journalists and private investigators.

The prince was also granted permission in principle for allegations of landline voicemail interception and interception or landline and mobile phone calls conditionally on Harry clarifying what landline numbers are the subject of the allegation, and on the basis that these claims do not “relate back” to the issue of the claim form in September 2019 for limitation purposes.

The judge indicated he will, in principle, grant permission for the duke to amend his claim to substitute allegations of breach of confidentiality for allegations of misuse of private information between 1996 and 2 October 2000, provided adequate particulars of the confidential information, the duty of confidentiality on NGN and alleged breaches of confidentiality are pleaded.

Last month, a high court judge rejected an application to delay the trial.

NGN had applied to push back the trial for alleged unlawful information gathering, which is scheduled for January next year.

This was to allow the court to examine whether claims of unlawful news gathering by Harry and 41 others were brought too late.

In April, Mr Justice Fancourt said there was “plainly considerable risk” that examining the timings of the claims would be costly and push the full trial back by another two years, which was “unsatisfactory”.

Harry and others, including the Labour peer Doreen Lawrence, have accused The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World of unlawful news gathering.

This includes using private investigators, blagging confidential information, burglary, and intercepting phone calls and voicemails, from the mid-1990s until 2016.

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At a hearing last month, lawyers for NGN said the court should look at whether the claimants could have known they had a claim earlier, and could thus be ruled out of proceedings. This is because claims usually have to be brought within six years.

Lawyers for NGN argued it was the “most efficient” way of dealing with cases and could “promote” settlements.

However, lawyers for the claimants argued it would delay proceedings and would be “highly disruptive and prejudicial”.

News UK, The Sun’s parent company, has settled more than 1,500 phone-hacking claims since the scandal was exposed, which led to the closure of the News of the World in 2011.

It has consistently denied that unlawful information-gathering took place at The Sun.