prince harry scored a monumental victory on Wednesday when Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloids made an unprecedented apology for decades of intrusion into his life and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his invasion of privacy lawsuit.

The News Group newspaper offered “a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for The Sun’s serious intrusion into his private life between 1996 and 2011,” Harry’s lawyer, David Sherborne, read a statement in court.

The statement even went beyond the scope of the case and admitted the interference in the life of Harry’s mother, deceased. Princess Diana and the impact it had on his family.

“We acknowledge and apologize for the distress the duke has caused and the damage caused to relationships, friendships and family, and we have agreed to pay him substantial compensation,” the settlement statement reads.

They hacked his phone and spied on him

It was the first time the News Group had admitted wrongdoing at The Sun, a newspaper that once sold millions of copies with its formula of sport, celebrity and sex – including topless women on page 3.

Harry has vowed to take his case to court to publicly expose the newspaper’s misdeeds and obtain a court ruling confirming his claims.

In a statement read out by his lawyer, Harry claimed he had achieved the accountability he sought for himself and the hundreds of others, including ordinary people, who were snooped on.

News Group acknowledged “phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private data by journalists and private investigators” targeting Harry. NGN vehemently denied the allegations before the trial.

“This represents vindication for the hundreds of other claimants who were strong-armed into the settlement without being able to get to the truth about what was done to them,” Sherborne said outside the High Court in London.

The alleged crime at the top

The bombshell announcement came after the start of the trial was delayed by a day as last-minute settlement talks heated up outside court.

Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles III, and Tom Watson, a former Labor member of parliament, were the only two remaining claimants out of more than 1,300 others who settled lawsuits against News Group Newspapers over allegations that their phones were hacked and investigators illegally interfered in their lives.

0:37
Prince Harry has lost a court case over British security protection

The company engaged in “perjury and cover-ups” to obscure the truth for years, deleting 30 million emails and other records, Harry and Watson said in a joint statement read by Sherborne.

“There was an extensive conspiracy,” the statement said, in which “senior executives deliberately obstructed justice.”

Get the latest national news

For news that affects Canada and the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you as they happen.

The News Group said in a statement that it would dispute at trial that the evidence was destroyed and continues to deny the allegations.

While the News Group issued an unreserved apology for its wrongdoing at the shuttered News of the World, it never did so at The Sun and has strongly denied the allegations.

A statement read out by Sherborne took aim at Rebekah Brooks, now the chief executive overseeing the News Group, who was an editor at The Sun when she was acquitted in a criminal trial over phone hacking.

“At the 2014 trial, Rebekah Brooks said, ‘When I was editor of The Sun, we ran a clean ship,'” he said. “Ten years later, when she was CEO of the company, they now admit, while she was editor of The Sun, they ran a criminal enterprise.”

NGN apologized for the bad practices of the private monitors hired by The Sun, but not for anything done by its reporters.

Two less cases, one remains

Of all the cases brought against publishers since a widespread phone-hacking scandal forced Murdoch to shut down the News of the World in 2011, Harry’s case has come closest to going to trial.

Murdoch closed the paper after the Guardian reported that journalists from the tabloid had hacked the phone of murdered 13-year-old schoolgirl Milly Dowler in 2002 while police were searching for her.

Harry’s case against NGN was one of three he brought accusing the British tabloids of invading his privacy by tapping his phone messages or using private investigators to illegally help them gather information.

His case against the publisher of the Daily Mirror ended in victory when a judge ruled that phone hacking was “widespread and common” at the paper and its sister publications.

During that 2023 trial, Harry became the first senior royal to testify in court since the late 19th century, putting him at odds with the monarchy’s desire to keep its problems out of sight.

The outcome of the News Group case raises questions about how its third case – against the publisher of the Daily Mail – will proceed. That trial is scheduled for next year.

A source of bitter strife

Harry’s conflict with the press dates back to his youth, when the tabloids gleefully reported on everything from his injuries to his girlfriends to his drug use.

But his anger at the tabloids runs much deeper.

He blames the media for the death of his mother, who died in a car accident in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi in Paris. He also blames them for persistent attacks on his wife, an actress Meghan Marklewhich prompted them to leave the royal life and flee to the USA in 2020.

The lawsuit was a source of friction in his family, Harry said in the documentary The trial of the tabloids.

He revealed in court documents that his father opposed his lawsuit. He also said his older brother William, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, had settled a private lawsuit against News Group that his lawyer said was worth more than 1 million pounds ($1.23 million).

“I’m doing this for my own reasons,” Harry told the documentary makers, although he said he would have liked his family to join him.

Harry and the other misfits

Harry was originally one of dozens of plaintiffs, including actor Hugh Grant, who claimed News Group reporters and the investigators they hired violated their privacy between 1994 and 2016 by intercepting voicemails, wiretapping phones, listening to cars and using fraud to gain access confidential information.

Of the original group of plaintiffs, Harry and former MP Tom Watson were the outliers heading into the trial.

Watson, who was targeted by NGN as part of an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing by the tabloid, said the intrusion had taken a heavy toll on him and his family.

“I once said that the big beasts of the tabloid jungle have no predators,” Watson said. “I was wrong, they have Prince Harry. … We are grateful to him for his unwavering support and his determination under extreme pressure.”

Watson, who also received an apology and a substantial settlement, called on Murdoch to issue a personal apology to Harry, the king and “countless others” affected by the tabloid intrusion.

News Group said the settlements mark the end of more than a decade of litigation after the News of the World closed.

NGN has now settled more than 1,300 claims without trial. In doing so, he spent more than 1 billion pounds ($1.24 billion) on payouts and legal fees, Harry and Watson said in a statement.