In a “monumental” victory, Britain’s Prince Harry on Wednesday settled his lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN), publishers of ‘The Sun’ newspaper. The UK newspaper group offered a rare “full and unequivocal” apology to the now US-based Duke of Sussex as it admitted unlawful actions at its Sun tabloid and agreed to pay “substantial damages”.
The younger son of King Charles III, Harry, had taken legal action against NGN at the High Court in London, alleging that its journalists had illegally gathered private information about him between 1996-2011. NGN also apologised for the unlawful activities undertaken by The Sun’s private investigators, news agency PTI reported.
NGN, which also ran the now-defunct UK tabloid ‘News Of The World’, had previously denied these allegations regarding any unlawful activity at ‘The Sun’.
“NGN offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the serious intrusion by ‘The Sun’ between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for ‘The Sun’,” the NGN statement read out at the High Court in London said.
“NGN also offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them at the ‘News Of The World’,” it further said.
NN also admitted that it had intruded into Princess Diana’s private life. “NGN further apologises to the Duke for the impact on him of the extensive coverage and serious intrusion into his private life as well as the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, in particular during his younger years,” the statement read.
“We acknowledge and apologise for the distress caused to the Duke, and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages,” it added.
Soon after this, Harry’s lawyer spoke to reporters outside the London court, declaring a “monumental victory” and said that the settlement represents “vindication for hundreds of other claimants strong-armed into settling without getting to the truth”, PTI reported.
“After endless resistance, denials and legal battles by News Group Newspapers, including spending more than GBP 1 billion in payouts and in legal costs, as well as paying off those in the know in order to prevent the full picture from coming out, News UK is finally held to account for its illegal actions and its blatant disregard for the law,” David Sherborne said, as he read out a statement on behalf of the 40-year-old royal.
Sherborne also praised Prince Harry and Lord Tom Watson, the other claimant in the case and former Labour MP, saying that the trial had led to a “historic admission” from NGN because of their “sheer resilience”.
The trial for Harry’s case was set to begin at the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday, but the two sides reached a settlement following last-gasp talks. NGN also admitted that it had targeted Watson when he was a junior minister under the then PM Gordon Brown.
Prince Harry’s lawyer added that investigations be carried out into NGN’s “illegal actions and its blatant disregard for the law”.
“The rule of law must now run its full course. Prince Harry and Tom Watson join others in calling for the police and parliament to investigate not only the unlawful activity now finally admitted, but the perjury and cover-ups along the way,” Sherborne said.
Reading out his statement, Watson called for Rupert Murdoch’s “personal apology” to Harry and his father, King Charles.
