Prince Harry sees it as his life's mission to change the British media - analysis by Cameron Walker
GETTY
Prince Harry sees it as his life’s mission to change the way the British media operates.
Free from the palace chains holding his tongue and ability to fight back, as he perhaps sees it, the King’s son finds himself with six civil cases being dragged through the British courts.
It is well known that the Duke of Sussex has had a frosty relationship with the press since he was a child.
His mother Diana, Princess of Wales, was tragically killed in a car crash after being chased through the streets of Paris by paparazzi on motorbikes - although the official inquest also found a drunk driver and a lack of seatbelts were partly to blame.
Prince Harry strongly believes he is a victim of unlawful information gathering, and stepping back as a working member of the Royal Family means he no longer has to abide by the Royal Household's unofficial rule of 'never complain, never explain'.
Some of his celebrity friends, including Sir Elton John, also claim to be victims of unlawful information gathering.
So, one can see why Prince Harry has decided now is the right time to be part of joint legal action against British tabloids.
Today's ruling by a High Court judge will be seen as a partial victory for Prince Harry, his co-claimants, and lawyers.
Prince Harry takes joint legal action against British tabloids
PA
The publisher of the Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers Limited) has lost its bid to throw out the case, where they are accused of unlawful information gathering.
Associated Newspapers has "firmly" denied the allegations.
A trial date is yet to be set but this means, again, Prince Harry could have his day in court.
Once again, the King's son could be called to give his evidence on why he thinks he is a victim of the Daily Mail publisher's alleged bad practices.
Elton John is one of the individuals involved in the case
PA
But this could create more problems for the Prince.
Like we saw earlier this year, when Prince Harry gave hours of evidence over two days in his privacy case against Mirror Group Newspapers, he isn't always across the detail and could crumble under cross examination.
A trial could also bring unwanted attention on other members of the Royal Family.
During a hearing related to Prince Harry's separate privacy case against the publisher of the Sun and the former News of the World (News Group Newspapers) it was revealed Prince William, Harry's brother, had settled for "a very large sum" of money to secretly settle his own phone hacking claim.
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This is something, presumably, the future King wished to remain private.
The financial cost of all these legal cases is mounting up for Prince Harry, which could be in the hundreds of thousands of pounds.
A media deal with Netflix will only go so far, and there is no guarantee his legal battles will be successful.
But this has been a long time coming, and Prince Harry appears determined to expose what he sees as foul play.