Lawyers for Prince Harry gave a statement this afternoon regarding the settlement of the lawsuit he has been involved in with Rupert Murdoch's news corporation, News UK. The Duke of Sussex and former Labour deputy leader Lord Tom Watson brought legal action against News Group Newspapers (NGN) over allegations of unlawful information gathering by journalists and private investigators between 1996 to 2011.
In years previously, Murdoch's company News UK has paid more than $1.5 billion to settle more than 1,300 complaints against the Sunday paper News of the World and the daily tabloid The Sun. The allegations involved many others whose stories were to be used to corroborate the case in court. These people include celebrities, politicians, and ordinary or lesser-known individuals.
Because the case has been ongoing for years, the presiding judge in London, Justice Timothy Fancourt, seemed surprised that settlement talks occurred at the last minute.
In a statement outside the London High Court this morning, barrister David Sherbourne confirmed the settlement had been accepted, and called upon the Metropolitan Police and the UK Parliament to further ensure justice takes its course.
As well as defendant Will Lewis of The Washington Post, Harry and Watson's allegations also focus on the actions of News UK CEO Rebekah Brooks, the former top editor of both the News of the World and The Sun. She was cleared of all charges related to phone-hacking in 2014.
Lawyer Matthew Gill told Sky News today that despite the rare apology offered for personal intrusion, News UK deny a corporate cover-up of illegal methods of reporting.
During the New York Times DealBook summit last month, Prince Harry said his lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch's British tabloids was about holding the media accountable. The recent settlement enables News UK to avoid the public presentation of evidence by Harry and Watson's legal team —evidence meant to show that the Murdoch daily tabloid The Sun also engaged in widespread criminality in its reporting methods.
In a moving statement by Tom Watson outside the high court this morning, he apologised to his family and others affected by the ordeal. He said: "This fight has made me reflect on what it means to settle. Emotionally it's much deeper. Our system remains stacked against victims in favour of the powerful."
Harry's barrister David Sherbourne called News UK "a criminal enterprise", despite the settlement, adding that the time for accountability is now.
Prior to the settlement, the presiding judge, Mr Justice Fancourt, criticised both sides for long delays and disagreements over how the case should be conducted.
Harry won a case overseen by the same judge over similar acts by a different tabloid company, the Mirror Group, in 2023. The court in that case ruled that phone-hacking by the news company was "widespread and habitual" in the 1990s and early 2000s, and that executives not only knew about it, but tried to cover it up. The judge said Harry's cell phone was specifically targeted between 2003 and 2009.
