Prince Harry has finally settled his legal battle with the Mail on Sunday in regards to their story that claimed he had snubbed his military past.
The story had first been published in October 2020 and the paper had claimed the Duke of Sussex had turned his back on the Royal Marines.
The article was titled “Top general accuses Harry of turning his back on the Marines” in Mail on Sunday as well as an additional digital version on MailOnline.
“Each article reported that The Duke of Sussex had turned his back on the Royal Marines, had snubbed the British Armed Forces and ignored correspondence from Lord Dannatt, a former Chief of the General Staff,” she shared. “All of these allegations are false, as the Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline have now accepted, albeit after considerable damage was already done.”
While Mail on Sunday’s settlement included a public apology on the matter, Ms. Afia criticized the way it was handled and worded in both print and online.
“The Duke did [accept] so, despite his view that the content and prominence of the proposed apology would not be commensurate with the original story and subsequent harm caused, so as not to unnecessarily protract the litigation,” she continued.
Ms. Afia added that “the wording of the apology was the same for the Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline.
One of the reasons why The Duke has had to make a statement in open court is because the Defendant used wording which significantly underplayed the seriousness of the accusations made against him. It did not expressly acknowledge that the allegations were false.”
Mail on Sunday also revealed that they were going to make a donation to the Invictus Games Foundation as part of the settlement, but it has yet to be made.
“Although the Defendant had, when making its settlement proposal, offered to directly donate The Duke’s damages, The Duke wanted to bequest any damages received to Invictus Games Foundation himself so he could feel something good had come out of the situation,” Ms. Afia explained in court. “Consequently he personally is donating the damages from this case to the Invictus Games Foundation.
Although the wording was agreed, the apology does not, therefore, accurately represent what happened in that respect.”
It was reported that Prince Harry was quite emotional when he lost his honorary military ranking after he and wife, Meghan Markle, departed the royal family as senior members.
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