Prince Harry settles lawsuit with Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers for apology, “substantial damages”
london – Britain’s Prince Harry has settled a lawsuit against News Group Newspapers, the British newspaper group owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, his lawyer told CBS News on Wednesday.
Harry and a former senior British lawmaker sued News Corp in 2019, alleging illegal activity by tabloid reporters and private investigators employed by its newspaper, The Sun, which is no longer in circulation. world news. it is one of Number of lawsuits filed by Harry Opposition British newspapers.
“NGN provides a full and unequivocal statement to the Duke of Sussex regarding the serious intrusions into the Duke of Sussex’s private life by The Sun between 1996 and 2011, including the illegal activities of private investigators working for The Sun. Apologize,” a statement from the media company read in court on Wednesday. The statement also apologized for the activities of journalists and private investigators working for the News of the World.
“NGN further apologizes to The Duke for the widespread publicity and serious intrusions into his private life and that of his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, particularly during his youth. We acknowledge and state: “We are deeply concerned about the consequences caused to The Duke. He apologized for the pain and damage caused to relationships, friendships and family and agreed to pay him substantial compensation. “
Rebecca Blackwell/AP
News Corp. faces multiple lawsuits over allegations of phone hacking and illegal information gathering, and has settled more than 1,300 lawsuits involving politicians and celebrities. However, it has always denied that The Sun was involved in any illegal activity, or that senior figures knew of any illegal conduct and sought to cover it up.
Harry has previously said he wanted a trial to learn the truth rather than receive compensation after other claimants settled out of court.
In court documents that emerged in 2023, Prince Harry claims His own brother, Prince William, heir to the British throne, quietly received “a substantial amount of money” in a 2020 phone-hacking settlement with Murdoch’s British newspaper conglomerate.
“After endless resistance, denials and legal battles by News Group newspapers, including spending over £1bn in expenses and legal fees (as well as reimbursing people with knowledge of the matter) to prevent the full story from coming to light, News UK is finally being held accountable for its illegal and blatant A disregard for legal responsibilities,” said a statement read outside the court on Wednesday on behalf of Prince Harry and the British MPs who brought the case. “What has now emerged is that NGN illegally employed more than 100 private investigators on more than 35,000 occasions over at least 16 years. This happened to both The Sun and News of the World, according to Understand that all the editors and executives are at the top of the company.”
On Tuesday, Emma Jones, a board member of Hacked Off, an advocacy group that has worked with Harry on the lawsuit, said proceedings had been scheduled to resume that morning, but both sides had called for more time while settlement talks took place. .
Jones said “a lot of money is going to go to other people,” but she said she didn’t know the exact amount.
She said Harry also wanted “some level of acknowledgment…involving NGN (News Group). Some level of acknowledgment of what happened,” Jones said.
“He doesn’t want to just apologize and go away. He wants something tangible where he can say, ‘I at least have this. I proved my point,'” Jones said as negotiations continued Tuesday.
