LONDON — Prince Harry has withdrawn his libel claim against the Mail on Sunday publisher, Associated Newspapers says.

The Duke of Sussex, 39, had sued over an article about his publicly-funded security arrangements when visiting the UK after stepping back as a senior royal.

In an article on the Daily Mail website the paper said he had "abandoned his case" hours before a court deadline.

It said the prince would be liable for the publisher's £250,000 legal costs.

The Mail on Sunday article, published in February 2022, had reported on the prince's legal challenge against the Home Office over changes to his publicly-funded security that had happened after he had stopped being a working royal and moved to the United States.

After the claim was dropped, a spokesperson for the Sussexes said the duke was instead focusing on the safety of his family and his legal case against the Home Office.

The now-withdrawn libel case is separate to the prince's claims of unlawful obtaining information against Associated Newspapers, which are due to go to trial.

Prince Harry recently won damages from the Daily Mirror's publisher over phone-hacking claims.

In his long-running libel case against Associated Newspapers, the prince had claimed the story falsely suggested he had "lied" and "cynically" tried to manipulate public opinion.

The headline said the duke had "tried to keep his legal fight with the government over police bodyguards a secret" and his lawyers argued the article was "an attack on his honesty and integrity".

The publisher contested this claim, arguing the article expressed an "honest opinion" and did not cause "serious harm" to his reputation.

Prior to the case being dropped, a three-day trial had been scheduled to be held between 17 May and 31 July this year.

Last month, Prince Harry lost part of the legal battle after his lawyers failed to persuade a judge to throw out a strand of Associated Newspapers' defence.

Mr Justice Nicklin said the newspaper group's argument that the article was "honest opinion" had a "real prospect" of success.

The prince is still awaiting a ruling from a different judge on his claim against the Home Office that changing his level of personal protection when in the UK was "unlawful and unfair".

It is one of a number of legal battles Prince Harry has been involved in.

In November a court ruled a group of high-profile figures, including the duke, could go ahead with claims of unlawfully obtaining information against Associated Newspapers - paving the way for a trial.

The publisher faces multiple claims of "gross breaches of privacy" from Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost, Sir Simon Hughes and Baroness Doreen Lawrence as well as the prince.

Separately, last year Harry gave evidence from the witness box in a trial into a damages claim against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People, over alleged phone-hacking.

A judge ruled in his favour and he was awarded £140,600 in damages in December, and a legal team for victims has since called for a criminal investigation.

The prince is also bringing claims against The Sun's publisher News Group Newspapers over alleged unlawful information gathering. — BBC