London

British news outlet The Guardian on Friday (July 29) lost the legal challenge mounted against a previous decision banning the media from court case about Prince Philip's will. In September 2021, a High Court judge had ruled that will of Prince Philip, the late husband of UK Queen Elizabeth, should remain sealed for 90 years to protect privacy of the queen. Media organisations were not allowed to attend the hearing which was held in private.

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The Guardian then launched legal action against the attorney general and the queen's private lawyers. It argued that media should have had access.

The appeal was dismissed. Senior judges Geoffrey Vos and Victoria Sharp ruled that access to media would have caused a publicity storm.

"The hearing was at a hugely sensitive time for the sovereign and her family, and those interests would not have been protected if there had been protracted hearings reported in the press," the judges found.

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Guardian lawyer Caoilfhionn Gallagher had argued that "an entirely private hearing such as this is the most serious interference with open justice".

However, the judges held circumstances of the case to be 'exceptional'. They also observed that UK probate rules "allow wills and their values to be concealed from the public gaze in some cases".

"It is true that the law applies equally to the royal family, but that does not mean that the law produces the same outcomes in all situations."

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Unlike those of ordinary members of the public, wills of the Windsor family are traditionally kept secret after their deaths.

As per The Guardian, more than 30 UK royals have been able to keep their wills secret since 1910 by applying at private court hearings.

Prince Philip, who was also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, died in April last year, just weeks short of his 100th birthday, after more than a month in hospital.

He and the Queen were married for 73 years.

(With inputs from agencies)

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