A string of claims brought by the Duke of Sussex and six other celebrities were dismissed by a High Court judge
Prince Harry will on Friday find out the cost of his failed legal claims against the publisher of the Daily Mail, as he and Meghan Markle prepare to return to the UK.
The duke and six other household names brought legal action against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, alleging it had carried out or commissioned unlawful activities such as landline tapping, hiring private investigators to place listening devices inside cars or “blagging” private records.
However, the cases were dismissed after an 11-week trial earlier this year.
It comes as, six years after they relocated to the US, Harry and Meghan are expected to leave the United States and make their home in a non-royal residence outside London.
Asked whether the government would pay for their protection on their return to the UK, Andy Burnham said: “It’s a matter for Harry and Meghan and we wish them well in the move that they’re making.”
Meghan told Oprah Winfrey in 2021 that she had urged the royal family not to remove Harry’s security.
She said: “I even wrote letters to his family saying, ‘Please, it’s very clear the protection of me or Archie is not a priority, I accept that, that is fine – [but] please keep my husband safe.
“‘I see the death threats, I see the racist propaganda, please keep him safe, please don’t pull his security and announce to the world when he and we are most vulnerable.’
The couple continued to make waves even after leaving the UK for the US:
The duke and duchess may also have to win over the British public, since they face low approval ratings in royal favourability polls.
Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond said retaining their other properties appeared to suggest the Sussexes were “testing the water” with the move.
The Sussexes are keeping their homes in Montecito, California; and Portugal, while the duchess will continue to run her lifestyle brand, As Ever, from their new base.
Meghan’s net approval rating in the UK slipped to minus 43 in the second quarter of 2026 in a poll last month, her lowest yet in that system of measurement.
According to YouGov ratings, the Duchess of Sussex was liked by 18 percent and disliked by 61 percent in the three months from April to June, down from the first quarter when she was liked by 26 percent and disliked by 47 percent, a net approval of minus 21.
In December 2023, in a witness statement read to the High Court during his legal challenge against the Home Office, the duke wrote: “The UK is my home. The UK is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home as much as where they live at the moment in the US.
“That cannot happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil.
“I cannot put my wife in danger like that and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm’s way too.”
The Duke of Sussex and six other household names will learn on Friday how many millions of pounds they must pay the Daily Mail publisher after their failed legal action.
Prince Harry, alongside other prominent public figures including Sir Elton John, his husband David Furnish, and campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence, took Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) to court alleging it had engaged in or commissioned unlawful information gathering to find material for stories.
ANL strongly denied the claims, which included hiring private investigators to install listening devices in cars, “blagging” private records, and accessing private phone conversations. After an 11-week trial in London earlier this year, Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed all the cases, with ANL citing it as an “overwhelming victory”.
A new YouGov poll, carried out the day after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s surprise U-turn was revealed, showed 33 per cent of people believed Harry and Meghan should not move back to the UK, while 45 per cent did not know.
Less than a quarter (21 per cent) were in favour of the Sussexes relocating to the UK from the US.
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