Prince Harry celebrated a “monumental” victory over Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper group on Wednesday (22), after the publisher settled the lawsuit, admitting illegal actions in its tabloid Sun for the first time and paying substantial compensation.
Harry, 40, youngest son of King Charles, was suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of the The Sun and the now extinct News of the Worldat London’s High Court, alleging that newspapers had illegally obtained private information about him from 1996 to 2011.
NGN also admitted to prying into the private life of Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana.
A source familiar with the deal said the compensation involved an eight-figure sum.
“In a monumental victory today, News UK admitted that the The Sunthe flagship title of Rupert Murdoch’s British media empire, has in fact engaged in illegal practices,” Harry and his co-plaintiff Tom Watson said in a statement.
“Today, the lies were revealed. Today, the cover-ups are exposed. And today proves that no one is above the law. The time has come for accountability,” said the note, read by his lawyer David Sherborne outside the High Court.
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The trial to consider Harry’s case and a similar case by former senior British MP Watson was due to begin on Tuesday, but after last-minute talks the two sides reached a settlement, with the NGN saying there had been irregularities in The Sun, something he denied for years.
“NGN offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the serious meddling of The Sun between 1996 and 2011 in his private life, including incidents of illegal activity carried out by private investigators working for The Sun,” Sherborne said.
“NGN also apologizes to the Duke for the impact on him 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 her youth.”
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The company also admitted to targeting Watson.
The NGN has paid hundreds of millions of pounds to victims of phone tapping and other illegal intelligence gathering by News of the Worldand settled more than 1,300 lawsuits involving celebrities, politicians, well-known sports figures and ordinary people who were linked to them or major events.
In a joint statement, Harry and Watson said NGN had already paid out more than £1 billion.
