Prince Harry’s ‘fundamentally flawed’ phone hacking case should not have seen a courtroom, declares RICHARD KAY as he and CHARLOTTE GRIFFITHS reveal toll baseless legal battle had on reporters’ lives

On a special episode of Palace Confidential, Richard Kay and Charlotte Griffiths speak for the first time about the Daily Mail’s momentous victory over Prince Harry and six other high-profile figures who accused the paper of unlawful information gathering.

Kay, the Daily Mail’s Senior Editor-at-Large, and Griffiths, Editor-at-Large of the Mail on Sunday, were among more than 40 journalists called to the High Court to give evidence on the legitimate sourcing of their stories, some published more than 30 years ago.

Every one of the allegations levelled against Associated Newspapers, the Daily Mail’s parent company, was resoundingly dismissed by Mr Justice Nicklin in what Editor-in-Chief Paul Dacre hailed as ‘an overwhelming vindication of our journalism’.

Richard Kay and Charlotte Griffiths have spoken for the first time about the Daily Mail’s momentous victory over Prince Harry and six other high-profile figures who accused the paper of unlawful information gathering 

Reacting to the victory, Kay said it was ‘astonishing’ that Harry’s ‘fundamentally flawed’ civil case ever made it to a courtroom

In a meticulous 436-page ruling, Mr Justice Nicklin – who said Harry had strayed beyond ‘factual evidence’ while in the witness box – accepted the ‘honest’, ‘credible’ and ‘impressive’ testimony of Mail staff.

Reacting to the victory, Kay said it was ‘astonishing’ that Harry’s ‘fundamentally flawed’ civil case ever made it to a courtroom.

‘It should never have been brought,’ the veteran royal reporter said.

‘It’s astonishing in many ways that it was even brought to court at all, and that it went as far as it did.

‘It has been a cloud hanging over us all for many years.

‘The case was fundamentally flawed from the outset. Had it been a criminal trial, I don’t think it would ever have made it to court.

‘I hope that Harry and his fellow claimants can reflect on all this, because they put themselves through an awful ordeal as well. They chose to relive things, and they chose to have it framed in a certain way.

‘We’re obviously relieved here at the Mail that it’s all over, but it has been a very long time waiting for this day.’

In a blaze of publicity in 2022, the seven claimants had accused dozens of professional reporters and writers of commissioning crimes including phone hacking, burglaries, car bugging, landline phone tapping and placing ‘sticky window microphones’ on celebrities’ homes. Every allegation was dismissed.

The extraordinary claim of burgling homes was struck out before the trial even began.

Griffiths told Palace Confidential of the toll the accusations took on her personal life.

She said: ‘We journalists are very well versed in the old rule that if you dish it out, you have to be able to take it.

‘Nobody’s getting out the tiny violin. We’re trying really hard to be stoic and not play the victim in all this, but it’s obviously been incredibly difficult on our marriages, our home lives, our wider family, on our mothers in some cases.

‘Those kind of people that care about us are really, really worried about us. We might be stiff upper lip about it all, but it has impacted us, and it’s dragged on for such a long time.’

The verdict, she said, had come as ‘such a relief’.

Watch the full episode, featuring a recorded statement by Editor-in-Chief Paul Dacre, by subscribing to Palace Confidential on YouTube.