Prince Harry is the recipient of some good news this week as he settled one of his legal disputes against the UK tabloids, the Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline. The newspapers accused Harry of “turning his back” on the British Armed Forces in an article, titled “Top General accuses Harry of Turning his Back on the Marines.”
As a former military service member, the Duke of Sussex was understandably upset by the story when it was published back in October. His lawyer, Jenny Afia, referred to the coverage as “baseless, false, and defamatory stories” in court on Monday.
It looks like she made a convincing argument. Prince Harry was awarded “significant damages” over the defamatory article earlier this week.
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According to CNN, Harry's attorney argued that the stories and the accusations in them were "a personal attack on the Duke's character" and "wrongly brought into question his service to this country."
The Duke decided to put the money awarded toward the Invictus Games Foundation, a charity founded by Harry to support the legacy of the Invictus Games, which he started in 2014 after going to the Warrior Games in 2013. According to the foundation website, the games are meant to show an international audience "how the power of sport could help 'wounded warriors' physically, psychologically and socially."
According to Afia, Harry wants the damages to support this foundation "so he could feel something good had come out of the situation."
This decision also underscores just how wrong the tabloids were in questioning the Prince's dedication to the members of the armed forces when they said he "snubbed" the Royal Marines and the British military.
The Mail on Sunday ran an apology for the article in December, but the legal dispute was only settled in court this past week.
As Afia explained, "All these allegations are false as the Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline have now accepted, albeit after considerable damage was already done."
