Prince Harry withdraws lawsuit against UK publisher the day he was due to provide defense of claims

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Prince Harry has withdrawn his lawsuit against British newspaper publisher Associated Newspapers Ltd.

On Friday, the same day the Duke of Sussex had been ordered to turn over documents pertaining to the case, his lawyers informed the High Court in London that he was dropping the lawsuit entirely. 

The lawsuit concerned an article published in February 2022 that said he had tried to hide his efforts to retain publicly funded protection in the U.K. after leaving his role as a working member of the royal family.

A spokesperson for the British royal told Fox News Digital that Harry maintains that the original article that inspired the lawsuit contained false claims, but he'd rather put his energy towards another case that he's currently fighting to get security for his family every time they visit the U.K.

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Prince Harry has dropped his lawsuit against the Daily Mail. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images for Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023.)

Because of his decision to withdraw the case, the 39-year-old will be responsible for paying all of Associated Newspapers Ltd.'s legal fees, which, according to the Daily Mail, will be 250,000 pounds ($316,000). 

However, Harry's pokesperson told Fox News Digital that the costs for the case have yet to be determined.

Last month, the father of two was ordered to pay the publisher nearly 50,000 pounds (more than $60,000) in legal fees after he tried and failed to resolve the case without going to trial.

Justice Matthew Nicklin ruled in London’s High Court at that time that the publisher had a "real prospect" of showing that statements issued on Harry's behalf were misleading. He noted that the article the prince had presented as defamatory was reflected as an "honest opinion" and therefore wasn’t libelous.

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Prince Harry has claimed that the Daily Mail published a defamatory article about him in 2022. (Wiktor Szymanowicz/Anadolu Agency)

"The defendant may well submit that this was a masterclass in the art of ‘spinning,’" Nicklin wrote.

The younger son of King Charles III claimed that the article was "fundamentally inaccurate." He believed that the newspaper defamed him when it suggested that he had lied in his initial public statement over efforts to challenge the government’s decision to strip him of his security detail.

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The other lawsuit that the royal family member is still involved with concerns a security detail for him, wife Meghan Markle, and the couple's two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved out of the U.K. in 2020. (Chris Jackson)

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For this case, which is still ongoing, the 39-year-old has argued that instead of the government's decision to provide security for the family on a case-by-case basis whenever they come to the U.K., security should be provided every time they enter the country. Harry claims that the hostility toward him and his wife on social media, as well as the relentless hounding by the media, has threatened their safety.

He said he wants his children to "feel at home" when overseas, which can’t happen "if there is no possibility to keep them safe when they are on U.K. soil."

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The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back as senior royals in 2020. They reside in California.

Fox News Digital's Stephanie Nolasco, Janelle Ash, as well as The Associated Press contributed to this report.