Prince Harry’s lawyer announced Wednesday that he had reached a settlement with Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper group over charges of illegal information gathering, an abrupt end to a case that Harry saw as a final chance to hold the tabloids accountable for years of predatory behavior. .
Harry’s News Group newspapers offeredA complete and unequivocal apologyAccused of hacking his mobile phone and intruding into his personal life, he admitted to “unlawful” behavior by private investigators hired by tabloid newspaper The Sun. This was the first time that News Group admitted wrongdoing in relation to 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 pursued by paparazzi.
In its statement, News Group apologized to Harry for “the impact of the extensive coverage and serious interference in his private life as well as the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, particularly during his younger years.” “
She added: “We acknowledge and apologize for the distress the Duke has suffered, and the damage to relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him significant compensation,” referring to Harry by his alternative title, the Duke of Sussex.
The settlement was announced the day after the start of the long-awaited trial, sparing the news group’s newspapers weeks of damaging testimony about phone hacking and other illegal methods they used more than a decade ago to obtain information about Harry and other prominent figures. .
Harry’s lawyers were planning to assert that senior News Group executives purged emails related to hacking and other illicit practices. Among the executives whose actions could have come under scrutiny in court are Mr Murdoch’s youngest son, James Murdoch; Rebecca Brooks, CEO of News UK; and Will Lewis, a former top executive at the company who is now publisher of The Washington Post. All three denied any wrongdoing.
The settlement also spared Harry, 40, the youngest son of King Charles III, from significant financial risks, regardless of his performance at court. Under English law designed to resolve disputes out of court wherever possible, Harry would have had to pay both sides’ legal costs unless the court awarded him a sum equal to what the News Group newspapers offered him in the settlement.
The last-minute deal has highlighted the ruthless economy for individuals acquiring deep-pocketed companies in Britain. Murdoch’s companies used lucrative bribes to avoid prosecution in about 1,300 cases stemming from the phone-hacking scandal. Among those who settled was actor Hugh Grant.
Mr. Grant he said in April He felt forced to settle because “even if every allegation were proven in court, I would still be liable for costs approaching £10 million. I’m afraid I’m ashamed of that fence.”
In the United States, Mr. Murdoch’s Fox News paid $787.5 million in April 2023 to settle a defamation suit brought by the voting machine company, Dominion Voting Systems, over the cable network’s promotion of misinformation about the 2020 election that Dominion claimed harmed the company. .
The News Group newspapers did not reveal the amount they agreed to pay to Harry or his fellow claimant Tom Watson, the former deputy leader of the Labor Party, to whom News Group also offered a “full and unequivocal apology”, but in both cases they did not disclose the amount they agreed to pay. attic. He said the amounts were “large.”
The company apologized to Mr. Watson for what it described as “unwarranted intrusion into his private life during his time in government by the News of the World during the period 2009-2011.” She admitted that this included “being placed under surveillance in 2009 by journalists at the News of the World and those who received instructions from them.”
Had the trial gone ahead, Harry’s testimony in court would have highlighted the royal family’s past dealings with the media, as he was likely to point to deals other members of the family, including King Charles, had made with the news group. Harry said in a legal filing earlier in the case that his older brother, Prince William, settled a claim for a “huge sum of money.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.