Prince Harry and Rupert Murdoch’s British newspapers have settled a lawsuit after they apologised and agreed to pay substantial damages to the youngest son of Britain’s King Charles for illegally obtaining private information about him.
News Group Newspapers (NGN), owned by Murdoch-controlled News Corporation, admitted in Britain’s High Court on Wednesday they had illegally obtained private information about Harry, the Duke of Sussex, from 1996 till 2011.
Harry, 40, and his co-claimant, British politician Tom Watson, sued NGN over unlawful activities carried out by tabloid journalists and private investigators employed by its newspapers The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World.
"In a monumental victory today, News UK have admitted that The Sun, the flagship title for Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. media empire, has indeed engaged in illegal practices," Harry and Watson said in a statement read by their lawyer David Sherborne outside Britain's High Court in London.
"Today the lies are laid bare. Today, the cover-ups are exposed. And today proves that no one stands above the law. The time for accountability has arrived.”
Sources familiar with the deal said the settlement totalled more than 10 million pounds (A$19.63 million), mostly in legal fees, Reuters reported.
NGN, which had previously rejected claims of wrongdoing by its journalists, offered a full and unequivocal apology to Harry for the “serious intrusion” by The Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life.
"NGN further apologises 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, in particular during his younger years,” NGN said In a statement read out in court on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT).
“We acknowledge and apologise 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 trial to consider Harry's case and a similar lawsuit from Watson had been due to start on Tuesday before the two sides reached a settlement.
This reportedly brings to more than one billion pounds the cost of damages paid by NGN to celebrities, politicians, sports stars and other victims of victims of phone-hacking and other unlawful information gathering by its journalists in more than 1,300 cases it has settled.
