Prince Harry’s lawyer announced on Wednesday that he had reached a settlement with Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers over allegations of illegal intelligence gathering – an abrupt end to a case that Harry had launched as a last chance to hold years-old tabloids to account of predatory behavior. .
The News Group newspapers offered Harry a “full and unequivocal apology” for hacking into his mobile phone and intruding into his personal life, and acknowledged the “unlawful” conduct of private investigators hired by one of the tabloids, The Sun It was the first time News Group had admitted wrongdoing involving that newspaper.
The company also apologized for its journalists’ past intrusions into the private life of Harry’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being chased by photographers.
In its statement, News Group apologized to Harry for “the impact on him of the extensive coverage and gross intrusion into his private life, as well as the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, particularly during his youth. “
He added: “We recognize and apologize for the distress caused to the Duke and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages,” referring to Harry by his alternative title, Duke of Sussex.
The settlement, announced the day after the long-awaited trial began, spared News Group newspapers weeks of damaging testimony about phone hacking and other illegal methods used more than a decade ago to ferret out information about Harry and other figures prominent. .
Harry’s lawyers had planned to claim that senior News Group executives had deleted emails regarding hacking and other malpractices. Among the executives whose actions would be examined in court were Mr Murdoch’s younger son, James Murdoch; Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News UK; and Will Lewis, a former company executive who is now the publisher of the Washington Post. All three denied any wrongdoing.
The deal also spared Harry, 40, the youngest son of King Charles III, from heavy financial risks, regardless of how he fared in court. Under English law, intended to resolve disputes out of court where possible, Harry would have been required to pay both parties’ legal costs unless the court awarded him an amount equal to what News Group Newspapers had paid him offered in the transaction.
The last-minute deal highlighted the fact that the British economy is unforgiving of private individuals taking on deep-pocketed corporations in Britain. Murdoch’s companies used lucrative profits to avoid trials in around 1,300 cases arising from the wiretapping scandal. Among those who have settled is the actor Hugh Grant.
Mr Grant said in April that he felt forced to settle because “even if every charge was proven in court I would still be liable for something approaching £10m in costs. I’m afraid I’m shy in front of that fence.
In the United States, Murdoch’s Fox News paid $787.5 million in April 2023 to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by a voting machine company, Dominion Voting Systems, over the cable network’s promotion of misinformation about the 2020 election that Dominion claimed hurt the company. .
News Group Newspapers did not reveal the amount it had agreed to pay to Harry or his fellow actor, Tom Watson, former deputy leader of the Labor Party, to whom News Group also offered a “full and unequivocal apology”, but in both cases said the amounts were “substantial.”
The company apologized to Watson for what it described as “the unwarranted intrusion into his private life during his time in government by The News of the World from 2009-2011”. He admitted that this included his “being placed under surveillance in 2009 by journalists from The News of the World and those instructed by them”.
Had the trial gone ahead, Harry’s testimony in court could have highlighted the royal family’s past dealings with the media, since he was likely referring to deals other family members, including King Charles, had made with News Group. His older brother, Prince William, settled the lawsuit for a “huge sum of money,” Harry said in legal filings early in the case.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.