Prince Harry Slays Dragon Tabloid: Duke Didn't Snub Royal Marines, Donating Settlement

Prince Harry has agreed to settle his lawsuit against a U.K. newspaper and accept an apology from the publication after a story accused the Duke of Sussex of snubbing the Royal Marines.

Last year, The Mail and Mail Online ran similar stories claiming Harry cut ties with the British armed forces and ignored a letter from a top general after stepping down from his senior position in the royal family.

In an open court statement, Jenny Afia, Prince Harry’s attorney, slammed the company for publishing the untrue articles, CNN reports.

“The baseless, false and defamatory stories published constituted not only a personal attack on the Duke's character, but also wrongly brought into question his service to this country," she said.

Afia also accused the publication of damaging the Duke of Sussex’s reputation and questioning his dedication to his country, AP reports.

Nonetheless, the lawyer insisted Prince Harry was “proud to have served in the British armed forces for 10 years in Her Majesty’s name” and “has maintained active links with those forces ever since and will continue to do so in the future.”

The Mail initially issued an apology in late 2020 and donated an unspecified amount to the Invictus Games Foundation, which was created by Harry. However, the royal continued to pursue the lawsuit. On Dec. 3, The Daily Mail released an apology about the article.

“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.”

Prince Harry will be donating the "significant damages" he receives from the settlement to the Invictus Games Foundation, his nonprofit international sporting event for wounded military members, both serving and veterans. The exact amount of money was not disclosed.