Prince Harry has three ongoing lawsuits alleging phone hacking and other illegal practices at three of UK’s biggest newspaper groups.
Prince Harry’s multiple lawsuits could cost him millions even if he wins, but if he loses them he could be left with a bill of up to $20 million, a lawyer claimed after the Duke of Sussex lost his first lawsuit as a High Court judge ruled that he had no grounds to sue the UK Home Office over its decision that he could not privately pay for his police bodyguards.
Prince Harry lost his police security after he stepped down as a working royal in 2020 along with his wife Meghan Markle.
Mark Stephens, a UK-based attorney at Howard Kennedy, told Newsweek that Prince Harry may lose money even if he wins, but if he loses all the cases, the bill could be somewhere between $15 million and $20 million.
“I think Harry has taken it upon himself to sponsor the London legal village, and as a lawyer I welcome that. Whether it’s prudent is another matter,” Mark Stephens said.
He continued: “People are entitled to go to court, but whether he wins some or all of these cases he’s going to come out net down because you never recover, even if you win, 100 percent of your costs.
“You might get 60 or 70 percent. So let’s say he’s spending somewhere between £6 million [$7.5 million] and £10 million [$12.5 million] on these cases. He’s going to recover £6 million and he will be left with a bill for the rest. That’s if he wins the lot of them. If he loses them, he could be in for paying another £6 million to the other side,” he added.
Prince Harry also has three ongoing lawsuits alleging phone hacking and other illegal practices at three of UK’s biggest newspaper groups: Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers, Associated Newspapers (publisher of the Daily Mail) and Mirror Group Newspapers.
“I think with any claimant we are always cautious to take only the very best cases, and often legal recourse is not always the best way to get any remedy you seek,” Mark Stephens said.
He continued: “You’re putting yourself in as a witness, and the purpose of the king’s counsel [senior lawyer] on the other side is to punch holes in your credibility and to make you look like a fool.
“That’s why it’s not since the 1890s that a member of the royal family has gone into the witness box. In that case, the royal was only a witness. This is the only time a royal has gone in who was both the claimant and the prime witness,” he said.
