The Duke of Sussex has settled his legal action against News Group Newspapers as it offered a “full and unequivocal apology” for “serious intrusion” by The Sun and for phone hacking by private investigators working for the News of the World.
Harry, 40, alleged he was targeted by journalists and private investigators working for News Group Newspapers (NGN), which also published the now-defunct News Of The World.
An up-to-10-week trial was set to begin at the High Court in London on Tuesday, but three requests for adjournments and a Court of Appeal bid meant that the case remained unopened.
He said: “I am pleased to announce to the court that the parties have reached an agreement.
“As a result of the parties reaching an agreement, I would ask formally that the trial is vacated.”
In a statement read to the court, the media company said: “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.”
Lord Tom Watson, former Labour deputy leader, was also taking legal action against the publisher, but also settled his claim.
This included Lord Watson being placed under surveillance in 2009 by News of the World journalists and people instructed by them.
In a statement outside the court in London, Mr Sherborne described the agreements as a “vindication”.
He said: “In a monumental victory today, News UK have admitted that The Sun, the flagship title for Rupert Murdoch’s UK 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.
“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.”
Mr Sherborne added: “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.
“It has only been by taking NGN – not just to the steps of court but inside the courtroom itself – that these claimants have finally managed to extract this historic admission of guilt.”
In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, an NGN spokesperson said its apology to Harry 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”.
They continued: “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.”
The spokesperson said that publicly made allegations that News International had destroyed evidence in 2010 to 2011 “would have been the subject of significant challenge at trial” and “continue to be strongly denied”.
The spokesperson added: “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.”
“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,” they added.
He said: “His bravery and astonishing courage … have brought accountability to a part of the media 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 continued: “This saga has placed an unforgivable strain on the people in my life.”
Scotland Yard said it was aware of the outcome of the High Court cases.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson continued: “It remains the case that there are no active police investigations into allegations of phone hacking or related matters.
“We await any correspondence from the parties involved, which we will respond to in due course.”
After the settlement was announced on Wednesday, Mr Justice Fancourt said some details would remain confidential.
He also said that as a result of the settlement, the issues were not tried in this case, adding it would be “hard to imagine” other claimants would take them to trial.
Mr Justice Fancourt added that it was “regrettable” the agreement was only reached at a very late stage as huge resources had been dedicated to preparing for the trial, but that it was the parties’ prerogative to reach a settlement.
