Prince Harry claimed a monumental victory Wednesday when Rupert Murdoch's British tabloids made an unprecedented apology for meddling in his life for decades and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his invasion of privacy lawsuit.
News Group Newspapers offered a “full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for The Sun's serious intrusion between 1996 and 2011 into his private life,” Harry's lawyer David Sherborne read in a statement to the court.
The statement even went beyond the scope of the case by acknowledging the interference in the life of Harry's mother, the late Princess Diana, and the impact it had on her family.
“We acknowledge and apologize for the distress caused to the duke and the harm inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial compensation,” the settlement statement said.
They hacked his phone and spied on him.
It was the first time News Group acknowledged wrongdoing at The Sun, a newspaper that once sold millions of copies with its formula of sports, celebrities and sex, including topless women on page 3.
Harry had promised to take his case to trial to publicly expose the newspaper's wrongdoing and obtain a court ruling confirming his claims.
FILE – News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch delivers a keynote speech at the National Education Reform Summit in San Francisco, Oct. 14, 2011.
AP Photo/Noah Berger, File
In a statement read by his lawyer, Harry claimed he achieved the accountability he sought for himself and hundreds of others, including ordinary people, who were spied on.
News Group acknowledged “phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators” directed at Harry. NGN had strongly denied those allegations before the trial.
“This represents vindication for the hundreds of other claimants who were forced to settle without being able to get to the truth of what was done to them,” Sherborne said outside London's High Court.
Alleged misconduct at the top
The shock announcement came after the start of the trial was postponed by a day as last-minute settlement talks intensified outside court.
Harry, 40, the youngest son of King Charles III, and Tom Watson, a former Labor Party member of Parliament, were the only two remaining plaintiffs among more than 1,300 others who had settled lawsuits against News Group Newspapers over allegations that their phones were hacked. and investigators illegally intruded into their lives.
The company engaged in “perjury and concealment” to obscure the truth for years, deleting 30 million emails and other records, Harry and Watson said in a joint statement read by Sherborne.
“There was an extensive conspiracy,” the statement said, in which “senior executives deliberately obstructed justice.”
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News Group said in a statement that it would have disputed at trial whether evidence had been destroyed and continues to deny those allegations.
While News Group had issued an unreserved apology for its wrongdoing at the closed News of the World, it had never done so at The Sun and had vehemently denied those allegations.
The statement read by Sherborne took aim at Rebekah Brooks, now the chief executive overseeing News Group, who had been editor of The Sun when it was acquitted in a criminal trial over a phone hacking case.
“At her trial in 2014, Rebekah Brooks said: 'When I was editor of The Sun, we had a clean ship,'” he said. “Ten years later, when she is chief executive of the company, they now admit that, when she was editor of The Sun, they ran a criminal enterprise.”
NGN apologized for irregularities committed by private detectives hired by The Sun, but not for anything done by its journalists.
Two cases less, one to finish
Of all the cases that have been brought against the publisher since a widespread phone hacking scandal forced Murdoch to close News of the World in 2011, Harry's case came closest to a trial.
Murdoch closed the newspaper after The Guardian reported that the tabloid's reporters had hacked into the phone of Milly Dowler, a murdered 13-year-old schoolgirl, in 2002 while police were searching for her.
Harry's case against NGN was one of three he brought accusing British tabloids of violating his privacy by eavesdropping on phone messages or using private investigators to illegally help them obtain scoops.
His case against the editor of the Daily Mirror ended in victory when the judge ruled that phone hacking was “widespread and habitual” at the newspaper and its sister publications.
During that trial in 2023, Harry became the first senior member of the royal family to testify in court since the late 19th century, putting him at odds with the monarchy's desire to keep its problems out of the public eye. view.
The outcome of the News Group case raises questions about how its third case, against the publisher of the Daily Mail, will play out. That trial is scheduled for next year.
Source of a bitter dispute
Harry's feud with the press dates back to his youth, when tabloids rejoiced in reporting on everything from his injuries to his girlfriends to his drug adventures.
But his fury against the tabloids runs much deeper.
She blames the media for the death of her mother, who died in a car accident in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi in Paris. He also blames them for the persistent attacks on his wife, actress Meghan Markle, which led them to abandon royal life and flee to the US in 2020.
Princess Diana and Harry Price in 1995.
Photo: Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Images
The litigation has been a source of friction in his family, Harry said in the documentary. Tabloids tested.
He revealed in court documents that his father opposed his lawsuit. He also said his older brother William, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, had settled a private lawsuit against News Group that his lawyer said was worth more than 1 million pounds ($1.23 million).
“I'm doing this for my reasons,” Harry told the documentary's makers, although he said he wished his family had joined him.
Harry and the other obstacle
Harry was originally one of dozens of plaintiffs, including actor Hugh Grant, who alleged that News Group journalists and researchers they hired violated their privacy between 1994 and 2016 by intercepting voicemails, tapping phones, bugging cars and using hoaxes. to access confidential information.
Of the original group of plaintiffs, Harry and former legislator Tom Watson were the ones who resisted going to trial.
FILE -Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at the United Nations headquarters, July 18, 2022.
AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File
Watson, who was attacked by NGN when he was part of an investigation into allegations of tabloid wrongdoing, said the intrusion had taken a heavy toll on him and his family.
“I once said that the big beasts of the tabloid jungle have no predators,” Watson said. “I was wrong, they have Prince Harry. … We thank you for your unwavering support and determination under extraordinary pressure.”
Watson, who also received an apology and a substantial settlement, called on Murdoch to personally apologize to Harry, the king and “countless others” affected by the tabloid intrusion.
News Group said the agreements mark the end of more than a decade of litigation after the closure of the News of the World.
NGN has so far settled more than 1,300 claims without going to trial. In doing so, it has spent more than 1 billion pounds ($1.24 billion) on payouts and legal costs, Harry and Watson said in their statement.