After a long running legal battle against the British tabloids, Prince Harry has claimed a “monumental victory” over Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper group, following a settlement in his lawsuit against the publisher.
Harry had been pursuing legal action against News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World, at the High Court in London. He alleged the papers had illegally obtained private information about him from 1996 to 2011.
NGN admitted to unlawful actions at its Sun tabloid and paid substantial damages while also admitting it had intruded into the private life of Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana.
Following the legal win, Harry and his co-claimant Tom Watson issued a statement in which they claimed “the lies are laid bare”.
“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,” said the statement, read by their lawyer David Sherborne outside court.
“Today the lies are laid bare. Today, the cover-ups are exposed. And today proves that no one stands above the law. The time for accountability has arrived.”
In response, a spokesperson for NGN stated that the apology was for the unlawful actions of private investigators working for The Sun, not of its journalists.
“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.
The recent win adds to a series of legal successes for Harry. Most recently he achieved a significant triumph in his legal battle against British tabloids after London’s High Courts ruled that he was indeed a victim of phone hacking.
The court granted him a substantial award of £140,600 ($267,000 AUD).
This ruling solidified Harry’s persistent claims that Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) journalists, with the knowledge of their editors at the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, and Sunday People, deliberately targeted him.
Judge Timothy Fancourt concluded 15 stories were the result of unlawful acts, and that Harry’s phone “was only hacked to a modest extent”.
“However, it did happen on occasions from about the end of 2003 to April 2009,” Fancourt said at the time of the ruling.
Harry said the ruling was “vindicating and affirming” and should serve as a warning to other news outlets.
“Today is a great day for truth, as well as accountability,” Harry said in a statement read by his lawyer outside court.
“I’ve been told that slaying dragons will get you burned. But in light of today’s victory and the importance of doing what is needed for a free and honest press, it is a worthwhile price to pay. The mission continues.”
-with Reuters.