By Sheila Mckenzie-
Prince Harry has launched another libel action against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Mail on Sunday. It so happens that his wife , Meghan Markle , also has a separate legal action against the paper;
Documents lodged with the high court by the couple’s legal team, Schillings, on 27 November indicated a legal challenge by the couple against the Sunday newspaper in October, which claimed that Prince Harry had failed to maintain contact with the Royal Marines after he formally stepped down from royal duties in March.
After stepping back from his role as a senior royal in January for a new life in the US, Harry and his wife Meghan, have been the subject of great media interest. Meghan’s straight departure from the royal family with her husband has attracted critics and admirers in almost equal measure.
Some groups see her as a figure of progress for women in search for power and individuality , others despise the Dutchess Of Sussex over the fall out with the royal family, and the bad blood with her father. The case will add to the tension between the Duke and Dutchess Of Sussex and the media.
Meghan is already locked in legal action against the Mail on Sunday for breach of privacy, after the UK newspaper published extracts of a letter she sent to her estranged father, Thomas Markle. The duchess is seeking damages for alleged misuse of private information, copyright infringement and breach of the Data Protection Act.
The trial, originally scheduled for January in the high court in London, will now be heard in autumn 2021, after a successful application for an adjournment was made by Meghan’s team.
Harry is also suing the Sun and the Daily Mirror over alleged phone hacking, claiming that his voicemails had been intercepted.
In July, it emerged that the couple were suing the media for invasion of privacy in a case in California after drones were allegedly used to take photographs of their son, Archie, at their Los Angeles home. Meghan is additionally suing a picture agency over photographs published of her walking her dogs with Archie in woods in Vancouver in January.
The multiple cases show just how unhappy the Duke And Dutchess Of Sussex is with the press, but the court cases, which will explore all legal areas, and determine who is behaving badly in each of the several cases will be the final judge.
Prince Harry is also suing News Group Newspapers – owners of The Sun and the defunct News of the World – as well as Mirror Group Newspapers – publisher of the Daily and Sunday Mirror – over claims of historical phone hacking.
The hostile relationship between the Dutch and Dutchess Of Sussex is not bout to die anytime soon. The legal suits will themselves be the subject of multiple writings and even documentaries, because every outcome will have a strong effect.