An expert claims Prince Harry will gain little from his costly legal battle with Rupert Murdoch’s media.
As Prince Harry battles media giant Rupert Murdoch’s empire in a press trial, one expert has issued a stark warning: the Duke of Sussex stands to achieve very little from the case. Set against the backdrop of one of the most high-profile media wars in recent years, Harry’s fight targets The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World.
Harry has long accused the tabloids of unlawful surveillance spanning from 1996 to 2011. Among the allegations, he claims the media outlets accessed his private life and even obtained flight records of his ex-girlfriend, Chelsy Davy. Despite the high stakes, Professor Tim Luckhurst, principal of South College at Durham University, told Newsweek that Harry’s legal pursuit may be in vain.
“I think he’s spending a great deal of money to achieve very little,” Luckhurst said. His comments add to the mounting concern that the prince’s costly lawsuit against News Group Newspapers may fail to deliver any meaningful results.
The Duke and former British lawmaker Tom Watson are the last holdouts in a long-running legal battle against Murdoch’s media empire. Over 1,000 phone-tapping cases had already been settled, but Harry remains determined to press on with his case.
For Harry, this trial is about more than financial gain; it is about truth. “Seeing all this evidence only now is infuriating,” he stated in his witness testimony in 2023. The 40-year-old prince described his shock at learning of the invasive methods used to track and bug his personal life for stories that would ultimately be sold in newspapers.
“To know we were being tracked, bugged, and hacked while trying to have a private relationship, just so NGN could print a story and sell a newspaper, is mind-blowing,” Harry declared. “Methods that should, at best, be reserved for proper investigative journalism into public-interest stories were being used on normal, innocent people, and for what?” he asked.
The prince’s anger was clear as he demanded justice for the violation of his privacy. “Those responsible should be locked up in my view as there is zero justification and it is, frankly, criminal,” Harry concluded. “Any claim or suggestion senior staff weren’t aware of what their employees/journalists were doing is obviously a lie.”
Despite Harry’s unwavering resolve to seek accountability, experts like Luckhurst are increasingly sceptical about the outcome of his legal struggle. The case has become more than just a battle against tabloid exploitation; it is a symbol of the prince’s ongoing fight for his privacy and integrity. However, as the legal proceedings unfold, the question remains: will Harry’s costly pursuit of justice against Murdoch’s media empire ultimately be worth it
