UK: Prince Harry's phone hacking allegation against British tabloid ruled out by the court

Britain's Prince Harry can proceed with some of his lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper arm but his allegations of phone hacking were made too late, London’s High Court ruled on Thursday.

Harry is suing Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN) over multiple acts of wrongdoing he says were committed on behalf of its tabloids, the Sun and the now-defunct News of the World, from the mid-1990s until 2016.

NGN had argued during hearings in April that the claims should be struck out because they fell outside the six-year time limit for legal action to have been brought.

On Thursday, Mr Justice Fancourt ruled in favour of the argument by NGN that the Duke was aware enough of the phone hacking scandal to bring his case sooner.

The Duke’s claims of voicemail interception and phone hacking at the Sun and the now-defunct News of the World will therefore not be brought to trial. NGN described the court's ruling as a “significant victory”.

Harry will be allowed to proceed on some of his claims about other unlawful activities by NGN against him, including the alleged use of private investigators and blagging. 

A spokesperson for the Murdoch-owned publisher told the Telegraph that the ruling “substantially reduces the scope of (the Duke’s) legal claim."

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