A top UK judge has humilated Prince Harry after he released a lengthy statement following his court defeat this week. It was revealed earliet this week that the 41-year-old, who is currently on a week-long visit to the UK, had lost a monumental legal battle with the Daily Mail publishers after claiming it had intercepted his voicemail to write stories.

In response to the decision, the statement, released on July 7, read: "...Generic findings about various private investigators that were held by the courts in these parallel claims to have carried out unlawful activity at the very same time in relation to similar stories and well-known individuals have been wholly ignored...It is a complete and obvious whitewash, but sadly not altogether unexpected. However, the lengths to which the court has gone to exonerate the Mail is as shocking as it is totally unwarranted."

Lord Burnett of Maldon, who was the head of the judiciary of England and Wales from 2017 to 2023, has now spoken out after Harry's "whitewash" comment.

He has spoken out against the “vilification” of judges, which he said “crosses the line into a direct assault on the independence of the judiciary”.

Lord Burnett told the House of Lords on Thursday that the independence of the courts was paramount.

He said: "An expression of disagreement with the outcome of a case is entirely unobjectionable, but the growth of personal vilification, in which, regrettably, from time to time politicians have joined, crosses the line into a direct assault on the independence of the judiciary.

“Examples are multiplying, and even this week, a High Court judge has been accused by disappointed litigants of ‘a complete and obvious whitewash’. Judges speak through their judgments and cannot answer back. That is why the Constitutional Reform Act imposes duties on the Lord Chancellor to defend the independence of the judiciary.

“The (Constitution) Committee recognised that a culture of hostility towards the judiciary has been allowed to develop in recent years because of inappropriate, often inaccurate public criticism by politicians and others, with inadequate defence from government.”

Harry is set to make an appearance at the one-year countdown event for the 2027 Invictus Games tomorrow, July 10. Meghan, who was scheduled to join him, is reportedly travelling back to the UK this week with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet - however, all three of them will not be making any public appearances.

Although she has appeared at many previous Invictus Games events, Meghan will reportedly not be joining Harry in Birmingham on Friday.