Prince Harry achieved a significant legal victory against Rupert Murdoch's U.K. tabloids when The Sun issued an unprecedented apology for intruding into his life for decades and agreed to pay substantial damages. This marks the first time News Group Newspapers has admitted wrongdoing at The Sun, acknowledging phone hacking, surveillance, and misuse of private information aimed at Harry.
LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry secured a significant legal victory Wednesday as Rupert Murdoch 's U.K. tabloids issued an unprecedented apology for their extensive intrusion into his life over decades. News Group Newspapers agreed to pay substantial damages to settle Harry's privacy invasion lawsuit.
News Group Newspapers offered 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,' Harry's attorney, David Sherborne, read from a statement in court. The statement went beyond the scope of the case, acknowledging the intrusion into the life of Harry's mother, the late Princess Diana, and its impact on his family. 'We acknowledge 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,' the settlement statement said. This marked the first time News Group has admitted wrongdoing at The Sun, a paper known for its sensationalist approach to news, often featuring sports, celebrities, and topless women on its infamous Page 3. Harry had vowed to take his case to trial to publicly expose the newspaper's misconduct and secure a court ruling supporting his claims. In a statement read by his lawyer, Harry stated that he had achieved the accountability he sought for himself and hundreds of others, including ordinary people, who were targeted by phone hacking and surveillance. News Group acknowledged 'phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators' aimed at Harry. NGN had vehemently denied these allegations before the trial. 'This represents a vindication for the hundreds of other claimants who were strong-armed into settling without being able to get to the truth of what was done to them,' Sherborne said outside the High Court in London. The bombshell announcement came after the trial's start was postponed a day as last-minute settlement talks intensified outside court. Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles III, and Tom Watson, a former Labour Party member of Parliament, were the only two remaining claimants out of more than 1,300 others who had settled lawsuits against News Group Newspapers over allegations that their phones were hacked and investigators unlawfully intruded in their lives. The company was accused of engaging in 'perjury and cover-ups' to conceal the truth for years, deleting 30 million emails and other records, Harry and Watson stated in a joint statement read by Sherborne. 'There was an extensive conspiracy,' the statement said, in which 'senior executives deliberately obstructed justice.' News Group said in a statement that it would have disputed at trial that evidence was destroyed and continues to deny those allegations. While News Group had issued an unreserved apology for its wrongdoing at the shuttered News of the World, it had never done so at The Sun and had vehemently denied those allegations. The statement read by Sherborne targeted Rebekah Brooks, now the CEO overseeing News Group, who had been the editor at The Sun when she was acquitted at a criminal trial in a phone hacking case. 'At her trial in 2014, Rebekah Brooks said, 'When I was editor of The Sun, we ran a clean ship,' ' he said. 'Ten years later when she is CEO of the company, they now admit, when she was editor of The Sun, they ran a criminal enterprise.' NGN apologized for wrongdoing by private eyes hired by The Sun, but not for anything done by its journalists. In all the cases 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 trial. Murdoch closed the paper after the Guardian reported that the tabloid's reporters had hacked the phone of Milly Dowler, a murdered 13-year-old schoolgirl, 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 unlawfully obtain scoops. His case against the publisher 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. The outcome in the News Group case raises questions about how his third case — against the publisher of the Daily Mail — will proceed. That trial is scheduled next year. Harry's feud with the press dates back to his youth, when tabloids relished reporting on everything from his injuries to his girlfriends to his alleged drug use. But his anger with the tabloids stems from something much deeper.
Privacy Invasion Phone Hacking Rupert Murdoch News Group Newspapers The Sun Prince Harry Rebekah Brooks British Tabloids High Court London Media Law Celebrities
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