What’s Libel Got To Do With It?

In the Autumn of 2020, The Mail on Sunday and the MailOnline published a story citing that the Duke of Sussex, aka Prince Harry, had snubbed the Royal Marines after his last appearance as an honorary Marine was back in March 2020. The stories had cited that the information had been received from “informed sources”.

Consequently, the Duke brought legal proceedings against Associated Newspapers Ltd for libel and the Duke’s legal team had pleaded that the stories had made the Duke feel “personally affronted” and the articles had “caused huge damage to his reputation”. The Duke’s lawyers further claimed that the Duke’s ability to help veterans and serve the military by attracting public support was “seriously” hampered by the allegations as they “diminish his credibility in the eyes of (military) personnel”.

Attempting to make things right, The Mail on Sunday published an apology on 27th December 2020, accepting that the Duke had been in touch with the Royal Marines and they proceeded to make a donation to the Duke’s Invictus Games.

The details of the settlement are to be heard by a Senior Judge of the High Court early next week.

So what exactly is libel and what do you need to be able to show to make the claim?

Libel is the written word of defaming an individual and the publication of that statement has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the reputation of the person making the claim – Defamation Act 2013 (DA 2013). Many defendants in claims of libel have a number of defences available to them. The most common defences relied upon are:

1. The statement made is substantially true;
2. The person making the statement clearly indicates that it is their honest opinion; and
3. The person making the statement, which has been complained of was, or formed part of, a statement on a matter of public interest and the defendant reasonably believed that publishing the statement complained of was in the public interest.

If, on the other hand, you believe that you have been defamed because of someone’s spoken words – this form of defamation is slander, a claim would still be brought under the DA 2013.

When bringing a claim in accordance with the DA 2013, the onus is on the claimant to fully make out that those comments have caused serious harm to their reputation.