Tominey: Prince Harry’s legal battles against the press are ‘self-indulgent’

Prince Harry’s lawyers are appearing in two different courts this week. One court case is Harry’s civil litigation against the Mirror. The other is Harry’s ongoing dispute with the Home Office over whether or not he’s able to have and pay for police security when he’s in the UK. He also has pending lawsuits and legal actions against the Mail (ANI) and the Sun (News Group Newspapers). Add to all of that, the British legal system also put some kind of cap on damages, or how much money people can get from newspapers if they do “win” a case. All of that means that Harry is spending a fortune in legal fees. All of which brings me to Camilla Tominey’s latest column, “Prince Harry fights a battle on five fronts – but is doomed to lose the war.” After an exhaustive recap of Harry’s many lawsuits, she suggests that Harry will go broke suing the British papers.

It is perhaps no wonder the Duke of Sussex spent so little time at the Coronation when you consider just how many people he is simultaneously suing right now. Litigation costs time and money – and while Prince Harry may have more of both on his hands after stepping down as a “working” royal and moving to America in 2020, his life now appears to be dominated by legal action.

All five cases are ongoing and it is not known when they will conclude or what the outcomes will be. Yet having readily divulged even more personal information in his ongoing quest to protect his privacy, even if he wins in court, Harry may end up losing in the long run.

Contrary to suggestions his lawyers are operating on a “no win, no fee basis”, Harry is already wracking up a considerable legal bill – and may not recoup all of his costs, even if he is victorious. His wife Meghan only had 90 per cent of her estimated £1 million costs covered when she won her claim against the Mail on Sunday for breach of privacy and copyright in January 2022.

If the Duke has spent five times that amount on five separate claims then he still potentially faces losing around £500,000, even if he wins on all counts. Like the Duchess, Harry will argue the legal action is more about principles than money – but then he risks inviting criticism that he can only afford to engage in what some may regard as a self-indulgent war against the press, because he is a multi-millionaire with nothing better to do than avenge his critics.

With other phone hacking victims – including his brother – having settled out of court, some may question the wisdom of Harry airing yet more dirty linen in public when it only seems to serve to generate more headlines for the very newspapers he is trying to bring to task.

As with Spare, his warts-and-all autobiography, he also potentially faces the charge of invading other people’s privacy for his own gain, by continuing to pore over the intimate details of his relationships with his nearest and dearest.

A win against the Home Office may guarantee Harry gets armed bodyguards when he next visits the UK, but it may seem a pyrrhic victory when the chances of him receiving a warm welcome from the royals appear to be diminishing with every court revelation.

[From The Telegraph]

Can you imagine being this stupid? Camilla Tominey’s argument is that Harry’s litigation is bad, bad, bad because… he’s willing to put his money where his mouth is, because he “risks” alienating the family who abused him (and his wife), because he’s willing to put his own personal biography out there as a way to combat the criminality of the British media. This is a “tell” by Tominey too – there are a lot of incredibly powerful people within the British media who are terrified that Harry can’t be bought off or manipulated or shamed. He is clear-eyed and he feels his cause is righteous, and that he’s in a unique position to fundamentally change the system. Will Harry get what he wants? I have my doubts, but I admire what he’s doing and I hope British people understand what he’s doing.

PS… Tominey wrote this before the Sussexes were chased by paparazzi on Tuesday night. Currently, I wonder if Harry will still go to London to testify against the Mirror next month, given all of the security issues. He’s incredibly brave, but that situation might be dangerous as hell.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.