Prince Harry rebuts tabloid claim linking him to Diddy case

Prince Harry has denied any involvement in the high-profile legal case surrounding Sean "Diddy" Combs after a British tabloid suggested otherwise in a prominent headline.

According to the News International, the Duke of Sussex labeled the story as misleading and claimed it was retaliation by The Sun’s publisher for his earlier phone-hacking lawsuit, which he settled earlier this year.

The controversy centers around a front-page article published by The Sun on March 27, 2024. The article carried the headline, “Harry named in P Diddy sex traffic case,” implying a connection between the royal and the American music mogul's legal troubles.

In that piece, The Sun reported on court documents which alleged that Combs used Prince Harry’s name to give the appearance of legitimacy to parties where alleged criminal acts occurred. However, the article acknowledged in its fourth paragraph that Prince Harry was not accused of any wrongdoing.

Prince Harry issued a public response rejecting the suggestion of any link to the case. He said that he had only met Combs once, in 2007, during a memorial event for his late mother, Princess Diana, and had never attended any parties hosted by the entrepreneur.

Accusations of Motive Behind the Tabloid's Actions

New court documents obtained by The Guardian included Harry’s criticism of the article and the motives behind it. Harry asserted that the piece was a form of retaliation from News Group Newspapers (NGN), the parent company of The Sun.

According to the documents, the article was one in a series of “false and highly derogatory” stories NGN published following his lawsuit against them in 2019. That legal case accused NGN of unlawful practices, including phone hacking and other forms of information gathering.

Harry’s lawsuit was settled in January 2024, shortly before it was scheduled to go to trial. The settlement concluded years of legal wrangling between the Duke of Sussex and the media organization over alleged privacy violations.

Court Documents Detail Mental Health Impact

In his legal filings, Harry emphasized the toll these articles have taken on his well-being and that of his family. He referenced the “hugely negative impact” the ongoing coverage has created for his mental health, as well as for his wife and their children.

The court documents allege that NGN has painted him as someone who “betrayed” his own relatives or deliberately misled the public in order to gain favor. He said the false portrayal is part of a broader campaign to harm his reputation in the media.

“That article suggested he has somehow ‘betrayed’ his family, has ‘lied’ about them to garner sympathy, is a ‘traitor’ to his country,” the documents noted, “and perhaps most damaging of all, has been named in a high-profile sex-trafficking case,” Harry claimed.

NGN Defends Editorial Decision in Statement

In response to the backlash, News Group Newspapers defended its reporting practices. The company stated that The Sun takes great care to ensure its stories are accurate and in line with public interest.

NGN explained that Prince Harry’s name appeared in official court documents, and that detail was reported by several other news sources as well. They argued that The Sun was not alone in highlighting the mention of Harry’s name in relation to the Combs case.

“The reference to the Duke of Sussex in the Sean Coombs case was because his name appeared in court documents,” NGN said. The publisher added that the case was of "huge international interest."

Article Claimed Transparency Despite Headlines

The publisher also stated that the article made it clear early on that Harry was not accused of any criminal activity. They said readers were informed why his name came up and that any reasonable interpretation should have understood this context from the piece itself.

NGN emphasized, “It was made quite clear that there was no allegation of wrongdoing in respect of the Duke of Sussex and the article explained why he had been cited.”

Still, Prince Harry has maintained that headlines like The Sun’s are part of a longer pattern of irresponsible reporting that has caused lasting harm. He continues to challenge what he sees as media retaliation for his legal battles against the press.