Prince Harry secured victory in his High Court battle with Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, with a stunning apology for 15-years of intrusion into his private life by The Sun newspaper.
The Duke of Sussex had been set for a blockbuster showdown with News Group Newspapers, as part of his self-confessed “mission” to bring the British tabloid press to account.
But the case was dramatically settled on Wednesday, with a bombshell apology from the media group, accepting for the first time that there had been unlawful activity at The Sun.
Harry, who has vowed to secure “truth and accountability” with his legal battles, won an apology for intrusion into his private life, as well as an apology for the treatment of his mother, Princess Diana.
And in an admission that will put pressure on the higher echelons of Murdoch’s media empire, NGN conceded that Lord Tom Watson had been phone hacked and placed under surveillance by the News of the World between 2009 and 2011.
This happened when Lord Watson was a serving MP and a government minister who was investigating the phone hacking scandal engulfing the Sunday tabloid.
Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne read out the apology from NGN which brought the High Court case to a dramatic close.
“NGN offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the serious intrusion by The Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun.
“NGN also offers a full and unequivocal apology 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.
“NGN further apologises to the Duke for the impact on him of the extensive coverage and serious intrusion into his private life as well as the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, in particular during his younger years. We acknowledge and apologise for the distress caused to the Duke, and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages.
“It is also acknowledged, without any admission of illegality, that NGN’s response to the 2006 arrests and subsequent actions were regrettable.
“NGN also offers a full and unequivocal apology to Lord Watson for the unwarranted intrusion carried out into his private life during his time in Government by the News of the World during the period 2009- 2011. This includes him being placed under surveillance in 2009 by journalists at the News of the World and those instructed by them. NGN also acknowledges and apologises for the adverse impact this had on Lord Watson’s family and has agreed to pay him substantial damages.
“In addition, in 2011 News International received information that information was being passed covertly to Lord Watson from within News International. We now understand that this information was false, and Lord Watson was not in receipt of any such confidential information. NGN apologises fully and unequivocally for this.”
This is the latest twist in Harry’s long-running crusade against the British tabloid media, that has taken him up against some of the country’s most powerful newspaper groups.
The apology is a landmark moment for NGN, as there is an acceptance of unlawful wrongdoing by investigators instructed by The Sun. This was a line that the media group had steadfastly refused to cross during the years of civil litigation brought against it.
In Harry’s case against NGN, he argued that journalists and agents for both the News of the World and The Sun invaded his privacy for more than 15 years, starting when he was a young boy.
The Duke put forward 200 articles that he said came from unlawful newsgathering techniques, such as ‘blagging’ confidential information.
Around 30 of those articles were set to be poured over in detail during the trial.
First thing on Tuesday, it seemed unthinkable that the Prince would agree to end his claim, having taken the case to the brink of a trial.
But reports emerged of a huge financial offer put forward by NGN. Intense trans-Atlantic negotiations were entered into, and the High Court was told that a settlement would be less attractive to the media group if the trial was opened.
The apology, now on the official record, represents a victory on all the major points that Harry was set to argue at trial.
The benefit to NGN of settling now is avoiding a potentially damaging trial which would inevitably have looked into the activities of senior executives at the company.
Harry had reported rejected previous attempts to settle the case out of court, burning through millions in legal costs as the case crawled through the High Court, and in December he said in New York that he is seeing “truth and accountability”.
He is “the last person that can actually achieve that”, he told a crowd.
Ten-weeks had been set aside for the case, to look at the activities at the News of the World and The Sun between 1996 and 2011 when the Sunday tabloid was closed.
That happened at the height of the phone hacking scandal, when news broke of the hacking of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s phone the midst of a corrupted newsgathering operation.
In the years that followed, NGN has settled civil claims brought by around 1,300 people who said they had fallen to the so-called media “dark arts”.
Settlements and legal costs are thought to have topped £1 billion and there have been acceptance of wrongdoing within the News of the World.
But throughout, NGN has denied the same kind of behaviour was going on at The Sun, and it has vigorously fought against claims of a cover-up in the executive level of the organisation.
Recent cases to be settled were brought by actress Sienna Miller, ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne, comedian Catherine Tate, radio presenter Chris Moyles, Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm, former Boyzone member Shane Lynch and actor Mathew Horne.
For Harry, the benefits of pursuing a legal claim where he feels unwaveringly that he is in the right had to be balanced by the fact he would likely face having to pay the entire cost of a trial, including NGN’s legal fees.
Under the civil rules in the UK, if a claimant rejects an out-of-court settlement that is greater than the sum they eventually win in damages at trial, they are liable for the whole legal cost of the court fight.
The exact terms of the financial settlement are not set to be made public.
Harry says he has faced unlawful intrusion into his private life from the mid-1990s, when his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, was the most talked about Royal in the world.
He claims the enthusiasm for stories on Diana’s personal life led newspapers to intrude into the lives of everyone in her orbit, from personal aides to her sons and confidantes.
The Duke says stories about his own personal life, particularly his romance with Chelsy Davy, kept appearing in print with mystery sources.
Lord Watson claimed he had been the victim of intrusion from journalists within Murdoch’s empire between 2009 and 2011, when he was a senior political figure investigating the phone hacking scandal.
