Prince Harry has settled his lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s news group Newspapers (NGN) over alleged illegal information gathering, his lawyer said on Wednesday at the start of the long-awaited trial. There was an unexpected delay.
Harry, 40, the youngest son of King Charles, was suing Sun and the publisher of the long-defunct News of the World at the High Court in London, alleging that NGN misrepresented him from 1996 to 2011. I illegally obtained private information.
According to a statement read in court by Harry’s lawyer, David Sherborne, the newsgroup has made “a full and clear complaint to the Duke of Sussex” about the “phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators directed by him”. Apology” offered. .
Harry’s lawyer, David Sherborne, said a settlement had been reached with NGN agreeing to pay significant damages and NGN admitting it was a victim of Sun’s illegal activity and the News The phone was hacked by Off the World. .
Hear from Prince Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne after a long-running privacy claim against Rupert Murdoch’s news group Newspapers was settled on Wednesday.
Sherborne said outside court that Rebecca Brooks, then the Sun’s CEO, “ran a criminal enterprise.”
“It’s time for accountability,” Sherborne said, calling on British police and the UK government to open an investigation, alleging that NGN executives helped clean up 30 million emails over the years. Which created a hurdle in the civil case.
Brooks has denied wrongdoing, as has Murdoch’s former News Group UK executive, Will Lewis, who is now CEO of the Washington Post.
Read the apology text from Harry:
“NGN offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for The Sun’s gross intrusion into his private life between 1996 and 2011, including the illegal activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun. Events are also included.
NGN also offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators at News of the World.
The NGN apologized to the Duke for the extensive coverage and serious intrusion into his private life, as well as the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, particularly during her younger years. asked for
We acknowledge and apologize for the distress caused to Duke, and for the damage to relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages.”
Harry has long railed against British tabloids for their reporting and paparazzi, and has sued several British tabloid press outlets.
He admitted in a British documentary that the crusade was “part of the rift” with members of the royal family.
Harry said in legal filings that King Charles opposed the lawsuit.
The trial was imminent.
An eight-week trial to decide their hotly contested case was set to begin on Tuesday but, in an unexpected twist, the two sides reached a deal to strike out, much to the chagrin of Judge Timothy Fancourt. He asked for more time, which he said was enough time to reach an agreement.
Harry first filed his lawsuit against NGN in 2019, one of several claims he has brought against British newspapers.
NGN has paid hundreds of millions of pounds to victims of phone hacking and other illegal information gathering by News of the World, and has settled more than 1,300 lawsuits involving celebrities, politicians, sports figures and the general public. is That or important events.
But he has always rejected claims that there was wrongdoing at the Sun newspaper, or that any senior figure knew about it or tried to cover it up, as in Harry’s case. is accused of
Harry – who became the first senior royal to appear as a witness in court in 130 years at a separate trial involving a tabloid in 2023 – was due to give evidence next month.
It is believed that Harry is currently in California, where he now resides.
British lawmaker also got amnesty.
Labour’s Tom Watson, who serves in the House of Lords, was to be part of the trial for similar claims to the Duke of Sussex. Watson also received an apology from the Murdoch company on Wednesday.
The NGN “asked for a full and unequivocal apology to Lord Watson for the unnecessary intrusion into his private life by the News of the World during his reign during the period 2009-2011.”
In their joint statement, Harry and Watson said: NGN Now paid over 1 billion pounds ($1.77B Cdn).
Watson, in his remarks outside court, He praised Harry’s “bravery and incredible courage” in pursuing the case “under extraordinary pressure”.
Lawmakers called on Rupert Murdoch to issue a personal apology to Harry and others whose privacy was breached by organizations in his media empire.
Hugh Grant settled with NGN last year over claims that journalists used private investigators to tap his phone and burglarize his home. The actor expressed reluctance to do so, but said the legal costs would likely be prohibitive, and that he would donate the proceeds of the settlement to suppression advocacy groups.
The News of the World folded after 168 years of operation in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. It has been revealed that the Murdoch tabloids employed private investigators and ex-police officers to spy on thousands of people. The voicemails of politicians and celebrities were breached, and outrage erupted in 2011 when it was believed that a hacked list included a teenage murder victim.
At a British parliamentary hearing, Murdoch expressed regret for what happened to his UK papers but insisted he had no personal responsibility.
Prince Harry is declaring victory after a London judge ruled British publisher Mirror Group Newspapers was the victim of phone hacking.
“The people I trusted to run it, and then maybe the people they trusted,” he said.
Murdoch’s companies own several other news organizations around the world, including Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post in the US, the Times of London in the UK and several companies in his native Australia.
Harry was previously awarded 140,600 pounds, or about $240,430 Cdn, after London’s High Court ruled that journalists at Britain’s Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) had “minor” phone hacking and other illegal information gathering. was a victim of
Harry sued MGN, the publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People.
But the Duke of Sussex was ordered to pay the Daily Mail’s legal costs in another legal bid, and he later dropped the case.
