Prince Harry’s prolonged legal battle against Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper group took an unexpected turn on Wednesday when the Duke of Sussex settled his case over allegations of unlawful information gathering just before the trial was set to begin.
The 40-year-old duke had sued News Group Newspapers (NGN)—publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World—alleging that journalists and private investigators employed by the outlets had targeted him and his family from 1996 to 2011.
David Sherborne, Harry’s barrister, told London’s High Court that 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.”
Sherborne, reading a full statement on behalf of the defendant, said NGN also apologized to the Duke of Sussex for the phone hacking, surveillance, and misuse of private information conducted by journalists and private investigators working for News of the World.
“NGN further apologizes 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, particularly during his younger years,” Sherborne stated.
The publisher also acknowledged the distress caused to Harry and the damage inflicted on his relationships, friendships, and family. NGN agreed to pay the duke substantial damages, while noting “without any admission of illegality” that its response to the 2006 arrests and subsequent actions were regrettable.
Former Labour Party deputy leader Tom Watson, a co-claimant in the case, also settled. Watson alleged that the tabloids engaged in unlawful information gathering and phone hacking between 2009 and 2011, coinciding with his investigations into the Murdoch newspapers during a high-profile phone hacking scandal.
That scandal led to the 2011 closure of News of the World and a public apology from Murdoch for phone hacking.
Sherborne added that NGN apologized to Watson for the “unwarranted intrusion into his private life during his time in government by News of the World between 2009 and 2011.”
The trial had been set to begin on Tuesday but faced repeated delays following requests from lawyers on both sides.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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