Prince Harry settles lawsuit with Rupert Murdoch’s News Group newspaper with apology, “significant damage”

London – Britain’s Prince Harry has settled his lawsuit against the UK newspaper group owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, News Group Newspapers, his lawyer told CBS News on Wednesday.

Harry and a former UK attorney general sued the News Group in 2019 over alleged wrongdoing by tabloid journalists and private investigators employed by the now defunct Sun and News of the World newspapers. It was one of the number of charges brought by Harry against newspapers in Britain.

“NGN apologizes fully and unreservedly to the Duke of Sussex for the Sun’s heavy intrusions between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of illegal activities by private investigators working for The Sun,” the news agency said. a statement read in court on Wednesday. This statement also included an apology for the work of journalists and independent investigators working for the News of the World.

“NGN also apologizes to the Duke for the impact on him of the extensive coverage and the massive intrusion into his private life and the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, especially when he was young. We acknowledge and apologize for the distress caused to the Duke, and the damage caused to relationships, friendships and family, and we have agreed to pay him damages big,” said the statement.

The News Group has faced numerous lawsuits over alleged wiretapping and illegal data collection, and has settled more than 1,300 cases involving politicians and celebrities. It denied, however, that The Sun newspaper was involved in any illegal activities, or that the top people knew about the illegality and tried to hide it.

Harry had previously said he wanted to go to court to find out the truth, rather than a payment, after some claimants settled out of court.

In court papers from 2023, Prince Harry said that his brother, the heir to the British throne, Prince William, quietly received “a lot of money” from a 2020 wiretapping deal with the UK Murdoch newspaper group.

“After endless denials, denials and legal battles by News Group Newspapers, including spending more than billions of pounds in fines and legal fees (and paying those in the know) to prevent the full picture from coming out, News UK will finally be held accountable for its illegal actions and flagrant disregard for the law,” it said. a statement read outside court Wednesday on behalf of Prince Harry and the British attorney handling the case. “The truth that has been revealed now is that NGN has illegally collaborated with more than 100 independent investigators for at least 16 years more than 35,000 times. This is happening as much in Solezwe as it is happening in the News of the World, with the knowledge of all the editors and managers, they go very high in the company. “

On Tuesday, Emma Jones, a board member of the human rights organization Hacked Off, who worked with Harry on his case, said a hearing had been scheduled for that morning, but both sides had asked for more time as negotiations continued. .

Jones said “a significant amount of money will be transferred,” but said he did not know what exactly it would be.

He said Harry wanted “some kind of acceptance… that affects NGN (News Group). Acceptance, somehow, in what’s going on,” Jones said.

“He doesn’t want to just walk away from this with an apology. He wants something concrete that he can say well, you know, ‘I’ve got this at least. I’ve proven my point,'” Jones said as negotiations continued Tuesday.