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Prince Harry loses bid to name Murdoch in phone-hacking trial

(Photo by Andrew Esiebo/Getty Images for The Archewell Foundation)

As much as Prince Harry claims to hate the media, he never manages to stay out of the spotlight for long. Now it transpires that the renegade royal has been reprimanded by a High Court judge for trying to bag ‘trophy targets’ — and has been told that he cannot take phone-hacking allegations against Rupert Murdoch to trial.

The pampered Prince’s team claimed at a court hearing in March that Murdoch, owner of News Group Newspapers (NGN), was aware of unlawful activity taking place at his media outlets as far back as 2004. The allegations made against Murdoch suggest the media mogul ‘turned a blind eye’ to reports while he oversaw a ‘culture of impunity’. Lawyers for the monarch of Montecito approached the High Court for permission to update their case against the Sun publishers — but today Mr Justice Fancourt ruled that the additional claims added ‘nothing material’ to the case.

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Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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