Prince Harry Settles Lawsuit Against 'The Sun' Publisher, Settlement Amount & Statements Revealed
Prince Harry is settling his lawsuit.
The 40-year-old royal has received an eight-figure sum in damages after reaching a settlement in his legal battle alongside co-claimant Tom Watson, former Labour Member of Parliament, against the publisher of U.K. newspaper The Sun.
Harry has claimed that he was targeted by private investigators and journalists working for News Group Newspapers (NGN) from the mid-1990s to 2016. It was confirmed back in 2023 that the case would go to trial.
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The sum of the settlement likely exceeds $12 million according to People, covering damages in his case, in which he accused the publisher of illegally obtaining information via journalists and private investigators.
NGN issued a statement Wednesday (January 22).
“Today we have come to agreements with the Duke Of Sussex and Lord Watson to pay damages and to settle their cases. It is in the interests of all the parties to come to a settlement,” they said. (Read the full statement inside.)
Keep reading to find out more…
Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne called for a police investigation into the newspaper and spoke of how the case impacted his family’s life.
“In a monumental victory today, News UK have admitted that The Sun, the flagship title for Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. media empire, has indeed engaged in illegal practices. This represents a vindication for the hundreds of other claimants who were strong-armed into settling, without being able to get to the truth of what was done to them,” he said.
“After endless resistance, denials and legal battles by News Group Newspapers, including spending more than a billion pounds in payouts and in legal costs (as well as paying off those in the know) to prevent the full picture from coming out, News UK is finally held to account for its illegal actions and its blatant disregard for the law,” he continued. “It has also specifically admitted wrongdoing against Tom Watson, and admitted unlawful acts by The Sun, as well as by the News of the World, against Prince Harry.”
“The truth that has now been exposed is that NGN unlawfully engaged more than 100 private investigators over at least 16 years on more than 35,000 occasions. This happened as much at The Sun as it did at the News of the World, with the knowledge of all the editors and executives, going to the very top of the company,” he added, noting that “today’s result has been achieved only through the sheer resilience of Prince Harry and Lord Watson, whose willingness to take NGN to trial has led directly to this historic admission of unlawfulness at The Sun.”
“As a direct result of him taking a stand, Prince Harry and his immediate family have also had to repeatedly withstand aggressive and vengeful coverage since starting his claim over five years ago. This has created serious concerns for the security of him and his family,” he continued.
“The rule of law must now run its full course. Prince Harry and Tom Watson join others in calling for the police and Parliament to investigate not only the unlawful activity now finally admitted, but the perjury and cover-ups along the way,” he went on.
“It’s clear now this has occurred throughout this process, including through sworn evidence in inquiries and court hearings, and in testimony to Parliament, until today’s final collapse of NGN’s defense. Today the lies are laid bare. Today, the cover-ups are exposed. And today proves that no one stands above the law. The time for accountability has arrived.”
Lord Watson praised Harry outside the court.
“His bravery and astonishing courage has brought accountability to a part of the media world that thought it was untouchable. I am sure I speak on behalf of the thousands of victims when I say we are grateful to him for his unwavering support and his determination under extraordinary pressure,” he said.
He called on Rupert Murdoch to “follow this corporate admission of guilt with a personal apology to Prince Harry, to his father our King and to the countless others who’ve suffered the same unlawful behavior at the hands of his media empire.”
NGN issued a statement online upon the news of the settlement. See it in full…
Today we have come to agreements with the Duke Of Sussex and Lord Watson to pay damages and to settle their cases. It is in the interests of all the parties to come to a settlement.
This statement is to clarify questions raised after the hearing.
It has long been a matter of record that the Duke of Sussex’s phone was hacked by the News of the World. Two people served criminal sentences for this in 2006 and an apology was given. Today a full and unequivocal apology is given to the Duke of Sussex for the phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them at the News of the World. Phone hacking at the News of the World was not due to be a part of this trial but it is a part of this settlement.
In the 1990’s and early 2000’s there was widespread use by the broadcast and news media of private investigators. In most cases, their use was for public interest journalism and to obtain information necessary for the purposes of journalism.
Today, our apology to the Duke of Sussex includes an apology for incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun, not by journalists, during the period 1996-2011.
There are strong controls and processes in place at all our titles today to ensure this cannot happen now. There was no voicemail interception on The Sun.
It must also be stressed that allegations that were being made publicly pre trial (and indeed post settlement) that News International destroyed evidence in 2010/11 would have been the subject of significant challenge at trial. These allegations were and continue to be strongly denied. Extensive evidence would have been called in trial to rebut these allegations from senior staff from technology and legal.
After we served our skeleton arguments and evidence for trial including witness statements, the Duke has not sought to pursue these allegations further despite his stated intent and no admission or apology has been made in relation to this. This is significant. This matter was also investigated fully by the police and CPS between 2012-2015, at the conclusion of which it was found that there was no case to answer.
Lord Watson’s phone was not hacked in 2009-11 and had this gone to trial, NGN would have called evidence from telecoms experts to demonstrate that hacking after 2007 was nigh on impossible due to security upgrades undertaken by telecoms companies. This evidence was also provided to the Leveson Inquiry. No admission has been made on this today.
After more than a decade of litigation, and 14 years since the News of the World closed down, today’s settlement draws a line under the past and brings an end to this litigation. Indeed the Judge made it clear in remarks in court at the end of the hearing that these cases are likely to be the last liable to go to trial. Any cases now brought, years after the events, will be liable to be struck out.
The Sun today can face the future and continue its proud record of award-winning public interest journalism, investigations and campaigning on behalf of its readers.