Sun publisher to pay Prince Harry 'substantial' damages
Prince Harry has settled a legal case against the publisher of the Sun over claims of unlawful intrusion into his life after it agreed to pay "substantial damages" and offer an "unequivocal apology".
The Duke of Sussex alleged journalists and private investigators working for News Group Newspapers (NGN) used unlawful techniques to pry on his private life - and executives then allegedly covered it up.
NGN apologised for "serious intrusion" by the Sun between 1996 and 2011, and admitted "incidents of unlawful activity" were carried out by private investigators working for the newspaper, in a statement read out in court.
It also apologised for distress it caused Harry through the "extensive coverage" and "serious intrusion" into the private life of his late mother, Princess Diana.
The statement did not disclose how much the damages would be.
The BBC understands the settlements to both Prince Harry and former Labour deputy leader Lord Tom Watson have cost NGN more than £10m in pay outs and legal fees.
The settlement was announced after barrister David Sherborne, representing Harry, asked the judge to delay the start of the High Court trial on Tuesday, as the two sides were involved in potential settlement talks.
When he launched his claim, the prince alleged that more than 200 articles published by NGN between 1996 and 2011 contained information gathered by illegal means.
He repeatedly said he wanted the case to go to trial so that he could get "accountability" for other alleged victims of unlawful newsgathering of private information by NGN journalists.
NGN was "surprised by the serious approach by Prince Harry for settlement in recent days", a source told the BBC.
A source close to the Duke of Sussex responded that the apology "provides all the insight you need".
Speaking outside court on behalf of Harry, Mr Sherborne described the settlement as a "monumental victory", and said NGN had been "finally held to account for its illegal actions and its blatant disregard for the law".
Lord Watson, meanwhile, had alleged his phone was targeted around the time he was investigating newspapers owned by Rupert Murdoch while an MP, at the height of the phone-hacking scandal almost 15 years ago.
NGN also issued an apology to Lord Watson for intrusion into his private life by those working for the News of the World.
"This includes him being placed under surveillance in 2009 by journalists at the News of the World and those instructed by them," the court statement said, adding he would also be given substantial damages.
After the settlement was announced, Lord Watson told reporters: "I wish they had left my family alone. Today, I'm glad they have finally accepted responsibility."
Describing the snooping by NGN staff as "industrial in scale", he said: "If Rupert Murdoch had any decency, he should follow this corporate admission of guilt with a personal apology to Prince Harry, to his father, our King, and to the countless others who suffered the same unlawful behaviour at the hands of his media empire."
Lord Watson added that the legal team behind the case would pass a dossier to the Metropolitan Police.
A Met spokesperson said it noted the outcome of the case, adding that there were "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."
NGN said in a statement its settlement "draws a line under the past" and "brings an end to this litigation".
It added: "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."
The apology also covers incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun newspaper from 1996-2011, the statement said - but "not by journalists".
NGN has already apologised for unlawful practices at the now-defunct News of the World, but previously denied similar claims against the Sun - as well as Prince Harry's wider allegation of a corporate-wide cover-up.
While it admitted no illegality, NGN acknowledged in its apology on Wednesday that its response to the arrests in 2006 of News of the World staff who hacked royal phones and those of celebrities - and its subsequent actions - were "regrettable".
Journalist Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator, were later jailed for intercepting voicemails on phones belonging to the princes' aides.
Mr Sherborne said that many of those allegedly behind "unlawful practices" remain "firmly entrenched in senior positions today... wielding editorial power and perpetuating the toxic culture in which they continue to thrive".
Former editor of the Sun, Kelvin McKenzie, said he was "astonished" by NGN's admissions in its statement.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's World at One programme, he said it would have been "massively damaging" had the company's chief executive Rebekah Brooks been forced to give evidence at a trial, adding "it's difficult to know" how she would have survived it.
"There was always going to come a day like this, and [Prince] Harry's pursued it. [NGN] are on the back foot and there is probably nothing else they could do."
The amount of money won by the prince and Lord Watson was "eye-watering", he adds, and probably "represents the end of this saga".
Harry was 12 when his mother, the Princess of Wales, was killed in a car crash in a Paris tunnel while being followed by paparazzi.
He has suggested tabloid newspapers played a role in her death, saying last year that they had "blood on their hands".
The prince has long been at odds with the tabloid press, which he said last year had been "central" to the breakdown of his relationship with the rest of the Royal Family.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex said they were ending their co-operation with tabloid newspapers after stepping back from their royal duties in 2020 - and Harry has since filed other legal cases against British tabloids.
He settled a case last year against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) alleging the publishers had gathered information on him in unlawful ways from 1996 to 2010. MGN had to cover all of the duke's legal costs, and more than £300,000 in damages.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said she is "not going to call for a parliamentary inquiry".
"I think what Parliament does is a matter for Parliament and it exists to hold us to account," she told the BBC's Politics Live. "If the select committee, for example, decides they want to hold an inquiry, I'm sure the families would very much welcome that."