Prince Harry claimed a monumental victory Wednesday as Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. tabloids made an unprecedented apology for intruding in his life over decades and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his privacy invasion lawsuit.
News Group Newspapers offered 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,” Harry's attorney, David Sherborne, read from a statement in court.
The statement even went beyond the scope of the case to acknowledge intruding on the life of Harry's mother, the late Princess Diana, and the impact it had on his family. “We acknowledge and apologize for the distress caused to the duke, and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages,” the settlement statement said.
It was the first time News Group has acknowledged wrongdoing at the Sun, a paper that once sold millions of copies with its formula of sports, celebrities and sex — including topless women on Page 3.
Harry had vowed to take his case to trial to publicly expose the newspaper’s wrongdoing and win a court ruling upholding his claims.
In a statement read by his lawyer, Harry claimed he achieved the accountability he sought for himself and hundreds of others, including ordinary people, who were snooped on.
News Group acknowledged “phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators” aimed at Harry. NGN had strongly denied those allegations before trial.
“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,” Sherborne said outside the High Court in London.
The bombshel...
