‘Monumental’ legal victory over Murdoch media is hailed by Prince Harry

On Wednesday, Prince Harry declared a “monumental” triumph over Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper business after the publisher agreed to pay significant penalties and acknowledge illegal activities at its Sun tabloid for the first time.

Harry, 40, King Charles’ younger son, has been suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), the publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World, in the London High Court, claiming that the publications had unlawfully collected his personal information between 1996 and 2011.

Additionally, NGN acknowledged that it had pryed into the personal affairs of Princess Diana, Harry’s late mother. According to a person with knowledge of the deal, the losses were eight figures.

In a statement, Harry and his co-claimant Tom Watson stated, “In a monumental victory today, News UK have admitted that The Sun, the flagship title for Rupert Murdoch’s UK media empire, has indeed engaged in illegal practices.”

“The falsehoods are exposed today. The cover-ups are revealed today. And today demonstrates that everyone is subject to the law. Their attorney, David Sherborne, delivered the statement outside the High Court, saying, “The time for accountability has arrived.”

Following hurried negotiations, the two parties struck a deal, with NGN acknowledging misconduct at The Sun, something it had denied for years. The trial to evaluate Harry’s case and a similar complaint from former top British legislator Watson had been scheduled to begin on Tuesday.

“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,” Sherborne stated.

“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.”

Additionally, it acknowledged that Watson had been singled out, especially during his time as a junior minister under Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was scheduled to testify if the trial had proceeded.

Responsibility

In addition to settling more than 1,300 lawsuits involving politicians, well-known athletes, celebrities, and regular people who were connected to them or significant events, NGN has paid out hundreds of millions of pounds to victims of phone hacking and other illegal information gathering by the News of the World.

Harry and Watson claimed in a joint statement that NGN has now disbursed almost £1 billion.

According to Harry’s complaint, NGN had previously consistently denied any allegations of misconduct at The Sun newspaper, including that top officials were aware of it or attempted to conceal it.

After other claimants settled lawsuits to avoid the possibility of a multi-million pound legal fee that may be imposed even if they won in court but turned down NGN’s offer, Harry stated that his goal was to obtain the truth and responsibility.

The prince said that he had not reached a settlement because he wanted the editors and executives of the publishers to be held accountable and to acknowledge their misconduct, not because he was seeking money.

Rebekah Brooks, the chief executive of News UK, News Corp’s British division, and the editor of The Sun for a portion of the time when NGN acknowledged illegal activity, had been Harry’s primary target.

According to Harry and Watson’s statement, “they now admit, when she was editor of The Sun, they ran a criminal enterprise.” They also requested that the police and parliament look into “the perjury and cover-ups.”

NGN’s apologies, however, did not specifically address any misconduct by its top executives or the claim that any executives, past or present, had engaged in cover-ups.