A settlement has been reached between the British newspaper ‘The Sun,’ known for sensational news and unfounded claims about celebrities’ personal lives, and its parent company ‘News Group Newspapers’ (NGN).
According to news agency Reuters, Prince Harry and politician Tom Watson, who filed lawsuits against the British newspaper, claimed victory in a joint statement. The statement from both parties revealed that ‘The Sun’ had acknowledged its mistake, agreed to pay compensation, and also apologized for its actions.
Prince Harry had filed a lawsuit against ‘The Sun’ in London’s court, accusing the newspaper of illegally obtaining private information and exaggerating the details. For years, the parent company of ‘The Sun’ had rejected Prince Harry’s claims. However, now the media group has admitted its error.
Reuters reports that ‘The Sun’s’ parent company has admitted to illegally intruding into Prince Harry’s family life from 1996 to 2011 and obtaining their private information inappropriately.
The newspaper was accused of illegally acquiring extremely personal details about Prince Harry and his late mother, Princess Diana, along with other family members, and making baseless claims.
Now, the newspaper has acknowledged its wrongdoing and will pay more than one billion pounds in damages to Prince Harry and Tom Watson. The newspaper also admitted its mistake concerning Tom Watson and issued an apology to him as well.
In 2011, the same media group’s notorious publication ‘News of the World’ was fined heavily by the court for obtaining illegal private information about prominent individuals, which resulted in defamation.
Following the court’s ruling, the company shut down ‘News of the World,’ and it later emerged that the company had paid damages in over 1,300 lawsuits. ‘News of the World’ was once the most widely read weekly publication, which began in 1843 and continued for more than 150 years.
Prince Harry has reached a significant settlement in his privacy invasion lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN), receiving both a substantial payment and a rare public apology. The case centers on phone hacking, surveillance, and misuse of private information by The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World between 1996 and 2011. NGN admitted to unlawful practices for the first time, marking a major shift for the company, which also issued an apology acknowledging the invasion of the late Princess Diana’s private life.
This legal victory is one of several lawsuits Harry has filed against British tabloids over privacy violations. Harry was among the final two claimants to settle from over 1,300 related to NGN’s phone hacking scandal, which resulted in the closure of News of the World in 2011. The scandal, which erupted after it was revealed the tabloid had hacked the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, caused widespread outrage.
The media cases Harry has brought against them have been highly personal, and he often blames media intrusion for many of the troubles he has endured during his life. He has been blaming the tabloids and their relentless pursuit of Princess Diana for her death in a car crash in 1997. His cases have also caused a rift within his family. His father, King Charles III, and brother, Prince William, have been at arm’s length from his cases. For instance, Prince William privately settled a claim with NGN for more than £1 million.
This case adds to Harry’s ongoing efforts to hold the media accountable, with another victory in 2023 against the Daily Mirror. He also has a pending lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mail, continuing his fight for privacy and justice in the face of media intrusion.
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