Prince Harry's lawyer announced Wednesday that he had reached a settlement with Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers over allegations of illegal data collection – abruptly ending Harry's last-ditch case. consider the tabloids for years of predatory behavior.
News Group Newspapers offered a “full and unequivocal apology” to Harry for hacking his mobile phone and invading his privacy, and acknowledged the “unlawful” behavior of private investigators hired by tabloid newspaper The Sun. It was the first time that the News Group admitted the wrongdoings related to that newspaper.
The company also apologized for past intrusions by journalists into the privacy of Harry's mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who was killed in a 1997 car crash while chasing photographers in Paris.
The company said, referring to Harry by an alternative title, “We acknowledge and apologize for the Duke's distress, the damage to relationships, friendships and family, and agree to pay him substantial damages.” Duke of Sussex.
The settlement was announced the next day the long-awaited trial was scheduled to begin, News Group has freed its newspapers from damaging statements about phone hacking and other illegal methods it used more than a decade ago to leak information about Harry and other high-profile figures.
It also spared King Charles III's youngest son, Harry, 40, from a heavy financial risk regardless of how he fares at court. Under English law, Harry would have to pay both sides' legal costs if the court did not award him an amount equal to what News Group Newspapers had offered him in the settlement.
News Group Newspapers did not disclose the amount they agreed to pay to Harry or his fellow plaintiff, former Labor deputy leader Tom Watson, to whom News Group has offered a “full and unequivocal apology”, but said the sums were “substantial” in both cases.
The company apologized to Mr Watson for “unwarranted intrusion into his privacy by The News of the World during his time in government between 2009 and 2011”, which it said included his “surveillance by journalists in 2009”. In The News of the World and at their direction.
This is an evolving story. Check back for updates.