is set to return to the U.K. as his legal battle continues.
The Duke of Sussex is set to go up against News Group Newspapers (NGN) — which owns The Sun — in court starting this month. Harry, 40, previously accused the media company of allegedly using unlawful information gathering tactics.
Hello! Magazine reported on Tuesday, January 7, that when Harry flies home he won’t be accompanied by wife . The publication noted that she will likely stay in California with their kids, Archie, 5, and Lilibet, 3.
NGN previously admitted to phone hacking at the News of the World, which closed in 2011. They’ve since claimed that there was no wrongdoing at The Sun.
In an April 2023 court filing, Harry alleged that his brother, , settled with NGN for “a very large sum” in 2020. He also claimed that the royal family had a “secret agreement” with the media company preventing any members from filing lawsuits. (NGN has since denied this claim.)
Judge ruled last July that Harry’s case could move forward solely on the allegations of unlawful information gathering. His phone hacking claims fell outside the six-year time frame to bring the case. The judge also stated that Harry failed to provide evidence of the alleged “secret agreement.” The trial date was eventually set for January 2025. (The hearing is set to last for eight weeks.)
This is hardly the first time Harry is going up against the U.K. media. He was part of a group that sued Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which owns the Daily Mail, for allegedly hacking into celebrities’ voicemails as a way to obtain personal information. He made a major statement while testifying in June 2023, making him the first royal family member to take the stand in 130 years. By December 2023, a judge ruled in Harry’s favor. Court documents obtained by Us at the time revealed that the judge found “sufficient proof” that MGN “engaged in unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking.”
Harry spoke candidly about his ongoing legal battle during last month, noting that his time in court is about “accountability” at the New York Times’s DealBook Summit.
“They’ve settled because they’ve had to settle,” he said of those who came before him. “So therefore, one of the main reasons for seeing this through is accountability, because I’m the last person that can actually achieve that.”
