Rupert Murdoch’s UK publishing business has paid out more than £1bn over the phone-hacking scandal and its subsequent legal fees, with the latest settlement involving Prince Harry reported to be at least £10m.
On Wednesday morning, the Duke of Sussex’s barrister announced that News Group Newspapers (NGN) had offered an “unequivocal apology” and agreed to pay substantial damages.
According to royal correspondent Chris Ship, these amounted to an “eight-figure” sum, marking a significant addition to the total.
The payout follows years of legal battles stemming from allegations of unlawful information-gathering by journalists and private investigators working for NGN’s titles.
Harry and Lord Tom Watson, former Labour deputy leader, were the final remaining claimants in the case against NGN, which denied the allegations, after many high-profile figures – including actor Hugh Grant – had already settled similar claims.
By 2021, it was widely reported that NGN had already spent over £1bn in damages to 1,300 people, including legal fees.
Since then, Murdoch’s company has reached settlement agreements with 39 additional individuals, culminating in today’s high-profile settlement with the Duke of Sussex.
Between July and December last year, the 39 individuals who reached settlements with NGN included among their cast the actor Hugh Grant, who resolved his claim in April after being warned he risked £10m in legal costs if his case went to trial.
Other high-profile individuals who settled included actress Sienna Miller, former footballer Paul Gascoigne, comedian Catherine Tate, radio presenter Chris Moyles, Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm, ex-Boyzone member Shane Lynch, and actor Mathew Horne.
For Prince Harry, however, the financial compensation was arguably secondary to the “full and unequivocal apology” issued by The Sun for its use of private investigators, and by the now-defunct News of the World for phone hacking.
NGN also apologised 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, particularly during his younger years.”
Speaking outside the High Court in London, Harry’s barrister, David Sherborne, described the agreements as a “vindication for the hundreds of other claimants who were strong-armed into settling.”
He added: “After endless resistance, denials and legal battles by News Group Newspapers – including spending more than a billion pounds in payouts and 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.”
In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, an NGN spokesperson clarified that the apology to Harry included “incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun, not by journalists, during the period 1996-2011.”
The spokesperson added: “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.”
They also addressed publicly made allegations that News International had destroyed evidence in 2010-2011, stating that these claims “would have been the subject of significant challenge at trial” and “continue to be strongly denied.”
