Prince Harry’s lawyer announced Wednesday that he had reached a settlement with Rupert Murdoch’s News Group newspapers over charges of illegal information gathering – an abrupt end to a case Harry had presented as a last chance to hold the tabloids accountable for years of predatory behavior. .
News Group Newspapers issued Harry a “full and unequivocal” apology for hacking into his cell phone and intruding into his personal life, and acknowledged the “illegal” conduct of private investigators hired by one of the tabloids, The Sun.
The company also apologized for past intrusions by its journalists into the private life of Harry’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by photographers .
“We acknowledge and apologize for the distress caused to the Duke and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages,” the apology text said, referring to Harry using his alternative title, the Duke of Sussex. .
The settlement, announced the day after the long-awaited trial was scheduled to begin, spared News Group newspapers weeks of damaging testimony about phone hacking and other illegal methods used more than a decade ago to obtain information about Harry and other eminent personalities. . It also spared Harry, 40, the youngest son of King Charles III, from heavy financial risk regardless of how he performed in court. Under English law, Harry would have been liable to pay both parties’ legal costs if the court had not awarded him an amount proportionate to what News Group Newspapers had offered him in a settlement.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
