LONDON (AP) – Prince Harry on Monday accepted an apology and damages from the editor of the British tabloid The Mail on Sunday and its online version, MailOnline, in a defamation lawsuit related to articles about his relationship with the British armed forces.
Harry sued Associated Newspapers for defamation over two articles published in October claiming he had squandered the Royal Marines after leaving the post as royal major.
The articles claimed that Harry “had not been in contact” with the force since his last appearance as an honorary marine in March and that military leaders were considering replacing him as captain general of the Royal Marines.
Harry had served in the British Army for a decade. His lawyers said in court documents that he was “frustrated and saddened” because the articles would diminish his credibility in front of veterans.
Harry and his wife, Meghan, resigned as royal workers and moved to the United States in early 2019. Their honorary military titles were suspended and were to be reviewed in March as part of the review of the monarchy on the couple’s departure arrangements. .
Attorney Jenny Afia, representing Harry, said the editor accepted that the allegations he had turned his back on the force were false.
The articles were “baseless, false and defamatory” and “constituted not only a personal attack on the Duke’s character, but also called into question his service to that country,” Afia said.
He said Harry was “proud to have served in the British Armed Forces for ten years in the name of His Majesty” and “has maintained active links with these forces since then and will continue to do so in the future”.
After the brief remote hearing, a spokesman for Harry said his “commitment to the military community is unquestionable.”
The Mail on Sunday apologized in December, but it was not enough to stop the lawsuit.
Harry will donate the damage to the Invictus Games Foundation, a charity for wounded and sick soldiers and women he founded, he added. The amount of damages was not disclosed.
Separately, Meghan is also suing Associated Newspapers for invasion of privacy and copyright infringement for articles that published parts of a letter she wrote to her father, Thomas Markle, after her marriage to Harry in 2018.