Prince Harry’s lawyers are admonished by a High Court judge for trying ‘to shoot at “trophy” targets’ as they lose bid to drag Rupert Murdoch into hacking trial against The Sun publisher

Lawyers for the Duke of Sussex and others were today criticised by a judge for trying ‘to shoot at “trophy” targets’ – as they lost a bid to drag Rupert Murdoch into their hacking trial against the publisher of The Sun.

Mr Justice Fancourt said they were trying to ‘inculpate the man at the very top’ by pinning knowledge on the media mogul personally.

A trial is scheduled for next January to test claims by Prince Harry and more than 40 others that journalists working for News Group Newspapers (NGN) engaged in alleged unlawful information gathering and invasion of privacy.

Earlier this year they asked the High Court for permission to amend their case to add new details, including the names of Mr Murdoch, his son James Murdoch and senior executives at the company. They claimed Mr Murdoch was personally involved in a cover-up of wrongdoing at NGN that was perpetrated ‘right at the highest level’.

But ruling against them today, Mr Justice Fancourt said: ‘I consider that there is a desire on the part of those running the litigation on the claimants’ side to shoot at “trophy” targets, whether those are political issues or high-profile individuals.

‘This cannot become an end in itself: it only matters to the court so far as it is material and proportionate to the resolution of the individual causes of action. The trial is not an inquiry.’

Lawyers for the Duke of Sussex and others were today criticised by a judge for trying ‘to shoot at “trophy” targets’

He said the allegations made against Mr Murdoch added nothing to the case.

The Duke was also denied a request to extend his claim by including allegations that date back to 1994, when 39-year-old Harry was nine, and to as recently as 2016. And he was refused permission to include the names of some 150 private investigators, some of which had no specific claims made against them.

The judge also refused permission for allegations to be newly made against NGN’s Management and Standards Committee and those relating to the targeting of politicians.

The judge criticised the Duke’s legal team for trying to bring forward too many amendments at too late a stage, in what he described as a ‘very expensive and time consuming exercise’. He also criticised NGN for failing to concede enough of the lesser amendments.

Mr Justice Fancourt allowed the duke to make some changes including ‘in principle’ amending his case to name certain further journalists and ‘private investigators’, and bring allegations of ‘landline voicemail interception’.

Mr Justice Fancourt said they were trying to ‘inculpate the man at the very top’ by pinning knowledge on the media mogul personally

He concluded: ‘I will therefore grant permission for some of the amendments that the Duke seeks to make but not others.’

In a further blow to Harry, the judge said he had ‘not complied’ with a court order made last year.

In July 2023, the publisher succeeded in having allegations of phone hacking struck out from Harry’s case. It meant the duke’s case could only go to trial on the basis of other types of alleged wrongdoing. 

Mr Justice Fancourt said in his latest ruling: ‘I have concluded that the Duke has not complied with the July 2023 order because he has not removed from his claim the facts alleged solely in relation to phone hacking…The Duke will therefore be required to comply fully with the July 2023 Order if he intends to pursue his claim for these other alleged wrongs.’

NGN denies all the accusations, with its lawyers previously telling the court that the new claims were a ‘scurrilous and cynical attack’ and were ‘designed to grab headlines’ rather than progress the claims.

In 2012, NGN apologised for widespread phone-hacking by journalists at the News of the World which Mr Murdoch shut down amid a backlash.