Prince Harry’s Privacy Rule Gets Apology From Murdoch Tabloids

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry claimed a “monumental” victory Wednesday as Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloids made a unprecedented apology for intrusion into his life for years, and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his trial for invasion of privacy.

News Group Newspapers admitted that its private investigators and journalists targeted Harry by hacking into phones, monitoring them and misusing private information. The company offered him a “full and unequivocal apology” for the intrusion of the defunct News of the World and its sister tabloid The Sun.

The statement, read to the High Court in London by Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne, went even beyond the scope of the case by acknowledging an intrusion into the life of Harry’s mother, the late Princess Dianaand the impact it had on his family.

“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 settlement statement said.

His phone was hacked and he was spied on

News Group has long acknowledged that the phones were hacked by staff at News of the World, the weekly that Murdoch shut down in 2011 amid a public outcry over tabloid surveillance. But it is the first time the company has admitted wrongdoing at The Sun, a newspaper that once sold millions of copies with its formula about sport, celebrities and sex – including topless women on the page 3.

Harry, 40, youngest son of King Charles III, had pledged to take his case to court to publicly denounce the Sun’s misdeeds and obtain a court ruling confirming his claims. He and Tom Watson, a former Labor MP, were the only two remaining claimants among more than 1,300 others who had settled claims against News Group Newspapers.

The trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday, but was postponed due to last-minute negotiations that led to the announcement of a dramatic settlement.

Although the settlement means Harry won’t get his chance in court, his lawyer said it allowed him to get the accountability he sought for himself and hundreds of others who been spied on with intercepted voicemails, tapped phones, bugged cars and various forms of deception.

News Group admitted to “phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators” targeting Harry. NGN had strongly denied these allegations before the trial.

“This represents vindication for the hundreds of other claimants who were forced to settle without being able to discover the truth about what was done to them,” Sherborne told the court.

Source of a bitter quarrel

Harry’s quarrel with the press dates back to his youth, when the tabloids took pleasure in reporting everything from his injuries to his girlfriends to drugs.

But his fury against the tabloids runs much deeper.

He blames the media for the death of his mother, killed in a car accident in 1997 while being pursued by paparazzi in Paris. He also blames them for the persistent attacks against his wife, actress Meghan Marklewhich led them to leave royal life and flee to the United States in 2020.

The litigation has been a source of friction within his family, Harry said in the documentary “Tabloids On Trial.”

He revealed in court documents that his father objected to his trial. He also stated that his older brother William, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, had settled a private suit against News Group that his lawyer said was worth more than a million pounds ($1.23 million).

“I’m doing this for my reasons,” Harry told the documentary makers, while adding that he wished his family would have joined him.

Harry and the other resistance fighters

Watson, who was targeted by NGN while part of an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing at a tabloid newspaper, also said the intrusion had taken a heavy toll on himself and his family.

“I once said that the big beasts of the tabloid jungle have no predators,” Watson said. “I was wrong, they have Prince Harry. …We are grateful for his unwavering support and determination under extraordinary pressure.

Watson, who also received an apology and a substantial settlement, called on Murdoch to issue a personal apology to Harry, the king and the “countless others” affected by the tabloid intrusion.

An end to the story?

News Group Newspapers said the settlement “draws a line with the past” and ends more than a decade of litigation.

The company has now settled more than 1,300 claims without going to trial. In doing so, he spent more than a billion pounds ($1.24 billion) on compensation and legal costs.

Harry’s lawyer said the company still had questions to answer. Sherborne said the company engaged in “perjury and cover-ups” to obscure the truth for years, deleting 30 million emails and other documents.

“There was a vast conspiracy,” the statement said, in which “senior leaders deliberately obstructed justice.”

News Group said in a statement that it would have disputed at trial that the evidence was destroyed and continues to deny the allegations.

Sherborne took aim at former Sun editor Rebekah Brooks, now CEO of News Group, who was acquitted of phone hacking a decade ago.

“At her 2014 trial, Rebekah Brooks said, ‘When I was editor of the Sun, we ran a clean ship,'” he said. “Ten years later, when she was CEO of the company, they now admit that when she was editor of the Sun, they ran a criminal enterprise.”

NGN apologized for the wrongdoing of private investigators hired by The Sun, but not for the actions of its journalists, adding: “There were no voicemail interceptions on The Sun.”

Two files down, one to go

Harry’s case against NGN was one of three he filed accusing British tabloids of violating his privacy by listening to phone messages or using private investigators to illegally help them obtain scoops.

His trial against the editor of the Daily Mirror ended in victory when the judge ruled that phone hacking was “widespread and habitual” within the newspaper and its sister publications.

During this trial in 2023, Harry became the first senior member of the royal family to testify in court since the late 19th century, putting him at odds with the monarchy’s desire to keep its problems out of the spotlight. view.

The outcome of the News Group case raises questions about how its third case – against the publisher of the Daily Mail – will play out. That trial is scheduled for next year.