Prince Harry will not be able to expand his phone hacking lawsuit against News Group Newspapers to include Rupert Murdoch and Piers Morgan, the UK’s High Court has ruled.

Mr Justice Fancourt ruled on Tuesday that individual allegations against Murdoch and Morgan were not “material” to the case, which is on course to go to trial in January 2025.

Prince Harry and 40 others are suing News Group Newspapers, which publishes The Sun newspaper and shuttered News of the World, over allegations of phone hacking and unlawful information gathering. The publisher denies the allegations.

Fancourt said he was blocking the plaintiffs’ desire to include “trophy targets” in the legal proceedings, adding that this cannot be an “an end in itself.”

Murdoch owns News Group Newspapers, while Morgan — who has a bitter and ongoing feud with Prince Harry — was the editor of the News of the World for around two years from 1994.

In a statement, News Group Newspapers said: “The court in its judgment today has thoroughly vindicated NGN’s position and did not give permission to introduce large and significant portions of the amendments … NGN welcomes the judge’s decisions and comments.”

The Duke of Sussex’s lawyers were granted permission in principle to name and make allegations against “certain further journalists and private investigators.”