Prince Harry has achieved a “monumental” win against Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper group after the publisher settled his lawsuit, marking the first acknowledgment of unlawful actions at its Sun tabloid and agreeing to pay significant damages.
At 40 years old, Harry, the younger son of King Charles, was pursuing legal action against News Group Newspapers (NGN), the publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World, in the High Court in London. He alleged that the papers had illegally procured private information about him from 1996 to 2011.
NGN also confessed to having intruded upon the private life of Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana. A source familiar with the settlement indicated that the damages involved an eight-figure sum.
“In a monumental victory today, News UK has acknowledged that The Sun, the flagship publication of Rupert Murdoch’s UK media empire, indeed engaged in illegal practices,” said Harry and his co-claimant Tom Watson in a statement.
Barrister David Sherborne (R) stands next to Tom Watson (L), outside the High Court
The trial to address Harry’s case, along with a similar lawsuit filed by former senior British lawmaker Watson, was scheduled to commence yesterday. However, after last-minute negotiations, the two parties reached a settlement, with NGN admitting to wrongdoing at The Sun, something it had denied for years.
“NGN extends a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the significant intrusion by The Sun into his private life between 1996 and 2011, including unlawful activities conducted by private investigators working for The Sun,” Mr. Sherborne stated in court.
“NGN further apologizes to the Duke for the adverse effects of The Sun’s extensive coverage and serious intrusion into his private life, as well as that of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, particularly during his formative years.”
It also acknowledged targeting Mr. Watson, including during his tenure as a junior minister under then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was set to testify had the trial proceeded.
‘Robust controls’
In a statement, an NGN spokesperson clarified that their apology was directed at the unlawful actions of private investigators employed by The Sun, not its journalists.
“We have strong controls and procedures firmly in place across all of our titles today to prevent such incidents from occurring again.”
There was no voicemail interception at The Sun,” the spokesperson noted, adding that the settlement likely concludes all current lawsuits, with future claims likely to be dismissed.
NGN has disbursed hundreds of millions of pounds to victims of phone hacking and other unlawful information-gathering conducted by the News of the World and has settled more than 1,300 lawsuits involving celebrities, politicians, famous athletes, and ordinary individuals connected to them or significant events.
In their joint statement, Harry and Mr. Watson noted that NGN had now compensated more than 1 billion pounds.
Historically, NGN has consistently denied any wrongdoing at The Sun newspaper or that any senior figures were aware of or attempted to cover it up, as alleged in Harry’s lawsuit.
Harry’s objective has been to uncover the truth and hold the publishers’ executives and editors accountable after other claimants opted to settle to avoid the financial risk of a multi-million-pound legal bill, even if they had won in court but declined NGN’s offer.
Harry’s primary target has been Rebekah Brooks, who served as editor of The Sun during part of the period in which NGN has admitted to unlawful conduct and who is currently the chief executive of News UK, the British arm of News Corp.
“They now acknowledge that when she was editor of The Sun, they were running a criminal enterprise,” Harry and Mr. Watson’s statement read, expressing a desire for police and parliamentary investigations into “the perjury and cover-ups”.
However, NGN’s apology did not specifically address any wrongdoing by its senior executives or the allegations of cover-ups by current or former leadership.
London police stated that there is currently no active investigation ongoing.
“We are awaiting any correspondence from the parties involved, which we will respond to in due course,” a spokesperson mentioned.
