Prince Harry’s claims he was ‘bugged’ and ‘tracking’ devices were planted to monitor him are thrown out as judge warns Duke over use of court time
Prince Harry’s claims that The Sun had planted ‘eavesdropping’ and ‘tracking’ devices to monitor him have been rejected by a High Court judge.
Mr Fancourt said Harry had not provided ‘any specifics’ to support the allegations in his long-running claim against the publication.
The Duke of Sussex is suing the publisher of The Sun, along with around 40 other claimants, alleging their personal data was hacked or unlawfully obtained to obtain stories.
A trial will take place in January, but on Friday the judge refused Harry permission in a preliminary ruling to include certain charges in his case.
The Duke had already withdrawn a claim that his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy’s car was bugged.
Prince Harry’s (pictured May 2024) claims that ‘eavesdropping’ and ‘tracking’ devices were planted by The Sun to monitor him have been dismissed by a High Court judge
The Duke of Sussex pictured during his four-night solo tour to South Africa on October 3
Prince Harry and his lawyer David Sherborne leave the Rolls Building at the Royal Courts of Justice in June 2023
The latest version of Harry’s ‘particulars of claim’, a legal document detailing the allegations he makes, contained only ‘general’ allegations about wiretapping, Judge Fancourt said.
In a written statement, he said: ‘No details are given regarding wiretapping, and an earlier specific allegation relating to Chelsy Davy’s car has been withdrawn.
‘Permission is refused for the allegations of planting insects in rooms and homes and of insects or tracking devices on cars as no particulars of any such allegations have been provided.’
The judge also refused Harry permission to include the words ‘and/or the use of listening and tracking devices’ in his claim, because the duke had provided ‘no details of these allegations’.
It comes after Judge Fancourt dismissed Harry’s phone hacking claims last year, saying the duke had waited too long before starting his trial.
Harry had protested that a ‘secret agreement’ from Buckingham Palace had stopped him from bringing his case earlier, but the judge ruled such a deal was ‘implausible’ and rejected Harry’s attempt to use it as a reason for his late claim.
The 40-year-old duke, who started the case in 2019, can continue the lawsuit based on other forms of unlawful information collection he claims.
Prince Harry leaves the Royal Courts of Justice in London on March 30, 2023
Duke of Sussex and George Sibotshiwe attend a Sentebale reception and panel discussion at The Saxon Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa
The Duke of Sussex (pictured in Johannesburg) is suing the publisher of The Sun, along with around 40 other claimants, alleging their personal data was hacked or unlawfully obtained to obtain stories
Yesterday the judge described the long-running case as a campaign between “two stubborn but well-equipped armies” that is taking up “more than an appropriate” amount of court time.
He wrote: ‘I have previously advised the parties that this individual claim… while raising important questions, is beginning to consume more than an appropriate portion of the court’s resources, contrary to the requirement in the overarching objective to resolve cases to deal with. justly and at proportionate costs.
‘That’s happening now.
‘The claim sometimes looks more like an entrenched front in a campaign between two stubborn but well-equipped armies than a claim of misuse of private information.
“It is unsatisfactory, to say the least, that the court is faced with having to resolve such a large amount of disputed material regarding changes to a trial statement for the second time.”
He granted the Duke’s lawyers permission to make certain changes to the way his case was argued, while also upholding some of the publisher’s objections.
He also rejected some of The Sun’s objections, saying it was unreasonable to expect Harry to provide further details of the allegations when he could not have known them if, as he claims, the newspaper concealed them.
And Judge Fancourt warned that the January trial must either go ahead or be settled out of court, and not be postponed any further than it already has been.