Prince Harry sharpens elbows for new battle in UK amid rift with King Charles, royal family

King Charles III's younger son Prince Harry, who's been enjoying life in the US with his wife and children since their exit from the royal family in 2020, has seemingly sharpened his elbows for another battle in Britain as he has been given the green light by a High Court judge to sue a UK publisher.

The court ruling comes amid reports of Harry's feud with the royal family as the King Charles has reportedly not invited the Sussexes to attend his 75th birthday next week.    

The Duke of Sussex previously revealed his determination to hold the publisher of the Mail newspapers to account, saying that he is "deeply concerned" by their "unchecked power, influence and criminality".

Harry's witness statement was disclosed as part of his privacy case against Associated Newspapers when he appeared in the UK court earlier this year. In it, Meghan Markle's husband also claimed he was kept out of the royal family discussions about taking legal action on phone hacking.

On the other hand, Associated Newspapers has dismissed the claims as "preposterous smears" based on a "fishing expedition". 

The newspaper group had applied to have the claims dismissed without a trial on the grounds that they were too old to be considered by the court.

Harry also criticised a story about his reaction, along with that of his brother Prince William, to the publication of pictures of his dying mother in the Italian media.

"It is really disgusting", he said, with a "crude headline" and "explicit reference to a phone call".

"My brother and I were relatively young at the time (I was just 21) and we were having private conversations about photographs of our dead mother which had been put into the public domain."

In his statement, Harry said the royal family - which he referred to as the Institution - had been withholding information from him about the possibility of taking legal action in response to media intrusions.

"The Institution made it clear that we did not need to know anything about phone hacking and it was made clear to me that the Royal Family did not sit in the witness box because that could open up a can of worms," the Duke said.

However, in a ruling on Friday, Justice Nicklin said ANL had “not been able to deliver a "knockout blow" to the claims of any of these claimants”. It means Harry's lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited  can go to trial, London's High Court.

The case is just one of several teh Duke and Duchess of Sussex have filed against media organisations since 2019 over alleged breaches of privacy, unlawful practices and false stories about Harry and his family.

As usual, there are speculations that Harry can spill more details about his time with the royal family during the trial.