The dark forces really timed everything perfectly this week. Almost like there was high-level collusion to disrupt, humiliate and ruin Prince Harry. From King Charles’ last-minute withdrawal of palace housing to the judge issuing his ruling on the Mail lawsuit just as Harry arrived at an Invictus event, it all worked out perfectly for the worst people in the world. As much as Prince Harry’s haters wanted to portray him as weakened, humbled and/or “almost near tears,” I have to give Harry a lot of credit for coming out swinging like a man who stopped giving a crap long ago. A few hours after Harry and his co-plaintiffs lost their case against the Mail, Harry and Baroness Lawrence issued a scathing joint statement.
Prince Harry is speaking out after suffering a major legal setback in his years-long battle against the British press. Hours after Mr. Justice Nicklin dismissed Harry’s lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited following a 46-day trial, the Duke of Sussex released a joint statement with fellow claimant Baroness Doreen Lawrence on Tuesday, July 7.
“We came to Court seeking justice and accountability. But we have received neither,” Harry and Baroness Lawrence said. “This judgment represents a complete reversal of the position which previous Judges have taken in relation to the hacking claims successfully brought against both News Group Newspapers and Mirror Group Newspapers (who were represented by, at the time, the Judge who made this decision). Generic findings about various private investigators that were held by the Courts in these parallel claims to have carried out unlawful activity at the very same time in relation to similar stories and well-known individuals have been wholly ignored. The fact that this Court has chosen to dismiss them represents an inconsistency which is hard to understand or reconcile with common sense, or the evidence heard in the courtroom itself.”
“It is a complete and obvious whitewash, but sadly not altogether unexpected,” they continued. “However, the lengths to which the Court has gone to exonerate the Mail is as shocking as it is totally unwarranted.”
“When the Court says there is not sufficient evidence of wrongdoing, despite the documents showing otherwise, then one does wonder how justice was ever going to be achieved,” they continued. “One need not look past when a private investigator the Mail used actually admitted on tape to having unlawfully blagged Baroness Lawrence, or when a journalist recorded the name of the private investigators she used to find out about highly sensitive medical information (that even the Mail was too worried to publish) or when another private investigator emailed one of the journalists with the actual British Airways seat number and ticketing details for a young girl simply visiting her boyfriend in return for payment,” seemingly referring to Harry’s ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy, who was the subject of some of the stories raised in the trial. (Harry said on the witness stand that the press engaged in “widespread invasion of my privacy” of his relationship with Davy, whom he dated on and off between 2004 and 2010.)
“It feels here like one rule for the newspapers and another for the claimants. While the Claimants presented evidence, Mail journalists simply gave denials, and the Court chose uncritically to believe them, even in the face of inconsistencies, contradictions and blatant untruths that were obvious to neutral observers in Court when compared to the documents,” they added. “We presented to the Court evidence which we believed was compelling at the time and remains so now. We would like to thank our legal team for all their hard work and all the witnesses who were brave enough to come forward in the pursuit of justice.”
The most damning piece of information – which I didn’t know before now – is that the judge on this case, Justice Matthew Nicklin, was the Mirror Group’s defense attorney WHEN HARRY SUED THE MIRROR. Harry won that case! Not only did Harry win in court, the Mirror Group had to settle out of court with all of Harry’s outstanding complaints not covered in the first trial. I remember that the Mirror’s lawyer was super-salty. Now, less three years later, the salty-ass Mirror lawyer is the judge on Harry’s lawsuit against the Mail/ANL? Come on. Tell me the British media functions as a cartel without telling me the British media functions as a cartel.
Anyway, props to Harry and Baroness Lawrence for calling these people to account. The whole system is rotten. But Harry didn’t let them see him sweat it – as he exited Chatham House yesterday (after the ruling came out), he smiled and gave a thumbs up so all of his haters have to use those photos with this amazing statement.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
