Fresh twist in Prince Harry's major court case ｜ Today Show Australia

Well, there has been a fresh twist in Prince Harry's major court case against the Daily Mail this morning. Speculation the Duke of Sussex could settle out of court to avoid a public spectacle. Royal Editor at the Daily Mirror, Russell Myers, joins us to discuss. Rusty, good morning. You've got your ear to the ground, no doubt. What are you hearing? Well, morning guys. Well, yeah, big lots of speculation over the last couple of days because Prince Harry was due to be in the UK this week for a big showdown with Associated Newspapers. They are the publishers of the Daily Mail and the Mail Online. It's a big case for Harry because it's not only involving him, but it's involving some big heavy hitters as well. We've got Sir Elton John, his husband, David Furnish, the actor Liz Hurley involved, as many others as well. So, you know, will Harry go through with this? It's listed for nine weeks. Can you believe a big, big case in the High Court? But he could settle out of court like he did with News UK, the publishers of The Sun. That didn't go to court, but there was a settlement and the fact that it's been moved to next week means that possibly there's a bit of horse trading behind the scenes. So we're waiting to see what happens. Of course, Rusty, this is all happening as Harry is waiting for a decision on whether his publicly funded security protection will be reinstated. How do you see that playing out? Well, he's got a lot of balls in the air, Harry, because, you know, not only this court case, he's taken a lot of the British media to court over the last couple of years and he's had this other huge case that he actually lost at the Court of Appeal with the British government. And that is about his taxpayer funded security whenever he comes to the UK. And the reason why he says he doesn't feel it's safe for him to bring Meghan, Archie and Lily over to the UK. And that's, you know, obviously a big knock on effect of whether he can see the king or whether his children can see their cousins as well. And Meghan hasn't been here since 2022. So he has appealed to the Home Office and this review we're expecting imminently. And I think it's going to go in his favour. And if it does give him that security again, then it could pave the way for him to come over and see his family. So a lot of things moving around for Harry at the moment. He will come. But you mentioned Meghan Markle's very obvious absence from the country. Do you think she will make her first return to the UK in four years? Well, certainly she'll only be coming if Harry's with her. I don't think she'll be coming on her own because, you know, her business interest is very much cemented in the US, you know, not only with her as ever lifestyle brand. She's got the Netflix deal as well that she's been working on. But Harry is due to be in the UK in the summer over here in July. And that's for his Invictus Games. It's going to be in the UK. The big games are going to be in Birmingham next year, but it's a year to go event. And whether the king, if everything's settled by that, whether the king could go as well, whether it be a big olive branch for the rest of the family, Meghan here, who knows, they might all be playing happy families by this time in next year. You never know. Russell, you know how much I would like to see this family reconcile. I hate it when brothers aren't talking to each other or aren't talking to their dads. What does William think of all of this? Do you think we could see the brothers, you know, breaking bread anytime soon? Well, I hate to break it to you, Jane, but the one thing that I could probably be certain on is that all these things that are going on in the background is that Prince William isn't taking any notice of it because he's very, very much centered on whatever his job is in the future. Of course, he's had a lot of things to contend with. The king is still undergoing his cancer treatment. Thankfully, Kate is in remission. She's just passed the year mark of being in remission. And Prince William has been focused on the future. Now, that doesn't involve Harry whatsoever. And I think that if Harry does have some sort of reconciliation with his father, then it probably won't involve William. So, you know, maybe they won't be getting round the Christmas dinner table this year. But for Harry and the king, you know, there's always a chance, I think. What about the cousins, though? Cousins are so special. Are you saying never, Rusty? You think it's done? The rift is too great? Yeah, I think so. And James, you know, there is a real issue for the cousins because, you know, both of these young families have absolutely no relationship with each other. But I think for both William and Kate, they have definitely moved on in a different direction. They see that Harry's slights against the royal family, you know, them taking part in the Winfrey documentary, the Netflix show, Harry's book. Those wounds are still pretty open for William and Kate. So they're heading in one direction and Harry's still trying to head in another one, unfortunately. Well, you mentioned Kate. She's been pretty keen to stay out of the drama and she's had her first day back on the job for the year. Yeah, we saw her with Prince William just last week. They attended Sharon Cross Hospital, speaking to both patients and staff, actually. And I think this is what we're going to see a lot more of in 2026 for Princess of Wales because she wants to use her profile to talk about things that have really helped her in her cancer treatment, you know, immersing yourself in nature, being creative, being able to be around with your family, funny enough, talking about families. But she has another solo engagement on Thursday. She's going to be celebrating the England rugby team. So, you know, it's great for Kate because she is back in business, she's feeling a lot healthier. You know, last time I saw her, she was looking forward to the future and I think for William and Kate especially, that's really important to focus on the job in hand and not worry about all the noise that's going on in the background, maybe. There's a lot of noise. Very noisy. So there's a lot of papers, so we'll keep watching that noise and see how it unfolds. Russell, thank you.