The Duke of Sussex appears to have “factual inconsistencies” in his legal claim about being a victim of hacking, a senior judge said.
Mr Justice Fancourt said he has concerns about Harry’s account of an alleged secret deal by the royal family, which he says prevented him bringing legal action earlier.
Harry, 38, has accused the late Queen of being involved in an agreement with the publisher of The Sun and the News of the World. He says his brother secretly accepted a “very large sum” in compensation from the publisher in 2020.
The judge questioned why details of Harry’s legal claim filed in 2020 failed to include the alleged secret deal which the duke now says means the publisher accepted it would not try to block his compensation claim because it was too old.
The judge added: “Another thing that is troubling is what appears to be a factual inconsistency in the current pleaded cases that the Duke of Sussex did not have the knowledge [of the alleged wrongdoing] before 2019 and your proposed amendment seems to say he would have brought the claim in 2012 but for the secret agreement.”
Source