Prince Harry settles with Murdoch papers over UK press intrusion

Jonathan Browning and Eleanor Thornber, Bloomberg News on Jan 22, 2025

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Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. newspaper group apologized to Prince Harry over allegations journalists at its tabloid newspapers used unlawful information gathering, as it settled a long-running lawsuit that threatened to dredge up decades-old accusations of wrongdoing.

News Group Newspapers Ltd. will pay “substantial damages” and give a “full and unequivocal apology” for intrusion by private investigators working for The Sun newspaper, lawyers said in a London court Wednesday before an eight week trial was due to start.

It’s the first time that the publisher has acknowledged liability for any wrongdoing at The Sun - having previously admitted to extensive phone hacking at the defunct News of the World tabloid. NGN has previously settled some 1,300 civil cases over phone hacking with celebrities, politicians and sports stars.

“News U.K. is finally held to account for its illegal actions and its blatant disregard for the law,” Prince Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne said in a statement outside court. He said the company had made more than £1 billion ($1.2 billion) in total payouts and costs to claimants since the misconduct was first uncovered.

The settlement brings to an end a long battle for the royal who has targeted British tabloids through the courts for years over intrusion into his and his family’s private lives. The London trial was set to resurface decades-old allegations of misconduct that’ll stir up memories of the court battles that led to convictions, plus recommendations for sweeping British media reform.

Prince Harry was the first prominent figure in the British monarchy to appear in a London court since Queen Victoria’s son, who would later become King Edward VII in the 1890s, when he testified in a case against the Mirror newspapers in 2023 — a case which he won.

“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,” the company said in its statement.