Prince Harry is finally in the belly of the beast fighting his court battle against Associated Newspapers. As he and Meghan Markle packed up and left England for a new adventure in the USA, they pointed the finger not only at the crown but also paparazzi for making them reluctantly do so. Among the many claims the prince made against the Daily Mail-owning conglomerate at the time, one alleged that the tabloid had revealed private details of his decision to retain police protection in Britain. 

A twist in the story developed today when the rebellious royal chose to take back this claim. 

One of the Duke’s lawsuits falls through

In November last year, a judge had allowed the prince to proceed to take his case to trial. Now that the trial had officially begun, Daily Mail reported today that he has dismissed one of his three lawsuits. This is the same lawsuit in which he had alleged intrusion to his privacy by the newspaper that unveiled his desire to receive continued police protection. 

The article in question had alluded that Prince Harry’s PR team had tried to fabricate a story about offering to pay for this protection. It questioned the motivation behind this story and alleged that he had not made any such suggestion to the crown. According to the notice submitted by his lawyers, the 39-year-old has withdrawn “all of this claim” about this counting as defamation now. 

While no further clarification was provided by the Duke of Sussex’s team, Daily Mail has suggested a theory for why this may have happened.  

Why did Prince Harry dismiss the claim?

It is important to note that as of now, no official account has been given by the prince or the court as to why he chose to withdraw this lawsuit. However, Daily Mail’s report suggests that this may have been caused by the approaching deadline on which he was supposed to submit the proof backing his statement. Additionally, his lawyers never hinted at what documents they would use to further their argument.

The deadline to do so was set for the coming Sunday, but the matter has been put to rest now. Just last month, he celebrated a win he received in another case among this bunch of lawsuits. So, the news has baffled his supporters who were rooting for him to emerge victorious in another fight against Associated Press after his first won him $180,000 in damages.

What do you think of Prince Harry’s choice to retreat from this case? Share your thoughts in the comments.