Prince Harry awarded ‘substantial damages’ after winning UK tabloid court battle
The Duke of Sussex has been awarded “substantial damages” by a UK tabloid which claimed he “snubbed” the Royal Marines after stepping down as a senior royal.
Prince Harry sued MailOnline and the Mail On Sunday over “baseless, false and defamatory” allegations which “constituted not only a personal attack on the Duke’s character, but also wrongly brought into question his service to this country,” his lawyer said.
Two articles published in October last year claimed Harry had “not been in touch” with the Royal Marines and “ignored correspondence” from the British military after he moved to the United states.
“All these allegations are false as the Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline have now accepted, albeit after considerable damage was already done,” Harry’s lawyer said.
“The truth is that the Duke of Sussex has made repeated and concerted efforts to continue to support the Royal Marines and other members of the armed forces and their families over the past year, even though he was required to step back from his formal military roles in the ‘year of transition’ during which he must take a reduced role as a member of the royal family.”
The Mail on Sunday has settled the dispute, saying it would publish apologies, pay substantial damages and not repeat the same allegations.
Nice touch
The Duke has requested any damages received go to the Invictus Games Foundation, “so he could feel something good had come out of the situation.”
The Invictus Games were founded by Harry, who served in Afghanistan himself, for wounded members of the armed forces.
Source: 7News / Sunrise
