Prince Harry Settles Dispute Against Tabloid, Awards Damages to the Invictus Games

Prince Harry
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The Duke of Sussex disputed an article calling his loyalty to the Royal Marines into question.

Prince Harry is using the settlement of his recent court case against the British tabloids the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline to help veterans. 

The 36-year-old Duke of Sussex was the subject of an October 2020 article in the Mail on Sunday titled, 'Top general accuses Harry of turning his back on the Marines' and an "almost identical" article on MailOnline. 

The article has since been proven false with the Mail on Sunday and MailOnline publicly issuing an apology and correction. 

Harry's lawyer spoke in a statement about the duke's continued loyalty to British troops. 

"The truth is that the Duke of Sussex has made repeated and concerted efforts to continue to support the Royal Marines and other members of the Armed Forces and their families over the past year, even though he was required to step back from his formal military roles in the 'year of transition' during which he must take a reduced role as a member of the royal family," the statement read. 

Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped down from their royal duties last March, but have continued to support their royal patronages. 

Though the Mail on Sunday previously claimed to be making a donation to the Invictus Games to make amends for its false story, a spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex claimed in a statement to ET that this was also inaccurate. 

"Unsurprisingly, the Mail again misled their readers in December by claiming to make a charitable donation as part of an initial apology," the spokesperson said. "They did no such thing. The Duke is personally donating the significant damages recovered from this legal resolution to the Invictus Games Foundation.”

Back in December, the Mail on Sunday issued an apology for its article writing, “An article on 25 October 2020 reported that Prince Harry had been accused by a top general of turning his back on the Royal Marines since withdrawing from his military roles in March and that, in an apparent snub to the Armed Forces, he had failed to reply to a letter from Lord Dannatt, a former Chief of the General Staff. We now understand that Harry has been in contact in a private capacity with individuals in the military including in the Royal Marines to offer informal support since March and that whilst he did not initially receive the letter from Lord Dannatt referred to in the article due to administrative issues he has since replied on becoming aware of it. We apologize to Prince Harry and have made a donation to the Invictus Games Foundation."

Harry's wife, Meghan, is involved in an ongoing court case against the Mail on Sunday. Last month Meghan's lawyers asked a British judge to settle the lawsuit in her favor to avoid going to trial.

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