Engaged in a bitter battle against the British tabloids, Prince Harry reached a financial agreement on Wednesday ending his dispute with the owner of the tabloid The Sun, whom he was suing for illegal intrusion into his private life.
The prince’s lawyer, David Sherborne, welcomed a “monumental victory”, after the announcement of the agreement with Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN), owner of the Sun and the defunct News of the World.
The group “must finally be held accountable for its illegal actions and blatant disregard for the law,” the lawyer said.
The last-minute deal allows Harry and NGN to avoid a trial, which was originally scheduled to begin Tuesday and last several weeks at the High Court in London.
“Unreserved apologies”
The 40-year-old prince, youngest son of King Charles III, has launched a legal battle against the powerful British tabloid press. He always held the paparazzi responsible for the death of his mother Diana in 1997 in Paris.
Harry accused NGN publications of having used, in particular through private detectives, illegal processes to collect information intended to feed articles about him more than a decade ago.
NGN offered its “unreserved apology” to Harry for “phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators” working for News of the World – which closed in 2011 – , according to a press release from the group.
-Concerning the tabloid The Sun, the group apologizes for the newspaper’s “serious intrusion” between 1996 and 2011 into Harry’s private life, “including incidents relating to illegal activities carried out by private investigators”.
“Substantial” damages paid to Prince Harry
The group also apologized to the prince for “the impact on him of the extensive coverage and serious intrusion of the media into his private life and that of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, in particular during his younger years.
“Substantial damages” will be paid to Harry, who now lives away from the royal family, in California with his wife Meghan and their two children.
In addition to Harry, a former Labor Party leader, Tom Watson, now a member of the House of Lords, was suing NGN. He also reached a financial agreement with the group.
He praised the prince’s “courage” on Wednesday, for having pursued “the big beasts of the tabloid jungle”. “We are grateful for his unwavering support and determination under extraordinary pressure,” he added.
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