(Adds details)
LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Britain's Prince Harry has won an
apology and substantial damages from the publishers of the Mail
on Sunday after he sued the tabloid for libel over claims he had
turned his back on the military when he ended his royal role.
Harry launched the legal action after an article in the
paper in October said he had lost touch with the Marines, a
commando force of the British navy with which he had a formal
relationship until he stepped back from royal duties last March.
It added that Queen Elizabeth's grandson, officially titled
the Duke of Sussex, had snubbed the armed forces and ignored
correspondence from a former British military chief.
"All of these allegations are false as the Mail on Sunday
and the Mail Online have accepted, albeit after considerable
damage was already done," His lawyer, Jenny Afia, told a remote
hearing at London's High Court on Monday.
The paper had agreed to pay damages which Harry would donate
to the Invictus Games, an international sporting event he
founded for military personnel wounded in action, she said.
Harry, who served in the armed forces for a decade and saw
active service twice in Afghanistan before taking on the role of
a full-time senior royal, had been appointed as Captain General
Royal Marines by his grandmother in 2017.
But, as part of an arrangement negotiated with the queen and
other senior royals, he had to give up the title when he quit
official duties and moved to the United States with his wife
Meghan and their son Archie.
British media reported at the time he was upset at having to
relinquish his military connections, which he highly valued.
"The baseless, false and defamatory stories ... constituted
not only a personal attack on the duke's character but also
wrongly brought into question his service to this country," Afia
said.
Harry and Meghan's relationship with Britain's tabloid press
has become increasingly hostile since they wed in 2018. Last
April, the couple said they would no longer engage with four
publications, including the Mail, accusing them of false and
invasive coverage.
Harry's libel case is separate from the action Meghan, 39,
is taking against the Mail on Sunday, which she is suing over
articles which included parts of a handwritten letter she sent
to her estranged father, Thomas Markle, in 2018.
Last month she asked the High Court to rule that the paper
breached her privacy and copyright, without the need for a
potentially embarrassing trial, which is scheduled for later
this year.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Alistair Smout and
Giles Elgood)
