BREAKING NEWS:Prince Harry has just made an insane £18m blunder – it could be his biggest mistake ever
Express reporter Chris Riches explains why Prince Harry has really shot himself in the foot.
Prince Harry at the High Court (Image: Getty)
Prince Harry fashions himself as a fearless crusader for pretty much everyone – but his obsessions may now finally have cost him dear. When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex fled the UK in 2020 for a series of mega-money US pay cheque interviews, he used his new soapbox to rant against the Royal Family and ‘The Firm’ behind it.
Meanwhile, Harry has repeatedly dragged the media to court to push a pro-privacy agenda, ironic as he breached his own family’s privacy by publishing behind-closed-door conversations in his £20 million bestseller memoir Spare. But a few days ago Harry and the other six high-profile claimants – including Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Sadie Frost, Sir Simon Hughes, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Liz Hurley – sensationally lost a huge, High Court privacy case.
They sued a national newspaper over claims of unlawful information gathering, but their case had more holes than Swiss cheese and Judge Mr Justice Nicklin said they had no evidence.
It did not help that some crucial documents and witnesses were obtained in return for promises of money by Graham Johnson, a former phone-hacking journalist turned ‘campaigner for press standards’.
Mr Justice Nicklin threw out all 97 claims brought by the celebrities in a damning 426-page ruling, but the result is a bigger disaster for him than he feared.
In a nutshell, in such cases the claimants usually take out insurance to cover their own and the other side’s legal bills in the event that they lose.
The publisher is pursuing up to £34.5million in legal costs from the group. The seven claimants’ insurance totals £16.2 million, potentially leaving Harry and the other six to find £18.2million – or £2.6 million each.
Considering Harry had a five-year, $100 million Netflix deal a few years ago, you would think this legal bill is small change.
Prince William and Prince Harry (Image: Getty)
But judging by their crass money-grabbing desperation on their recent Australia tour – and the sky-high costs of the candles and jam on Meghan’s ‘As Ever’ website – the pair’s funds are running low.
Rumours suggest the US audience is tiring of the pair, especially Harry.
As the cost-of-living epidemic spreads across Europe and the US, an entitled prince moaning about his tough childhood in a palace as only the fifth in line to the throne loses its impact on the 20th telling.
No wonder Harry’s keen to bury the hatchet with King Charles. Without that strong link his brand loses its unique selling point.
