For Harry, victory against Murdoch’s tabloids, but the fight goes on

London: The decision of Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper empire to pay Prince Harry a settlement thought to be at least £10 million ($19.6 million) draws a line under a decades-long scandal which has left a permanent stain on the media mogul’s legacy and the wider industry.

By obtaining a full apology from Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers, along with an admission for the first time of unlawful behaviour by its Sun tabloid towards him and his late mother, Princess Diana, the youngest son of King Charles declared the result a “monumental victory”.

Vindicated: Prince Harry.Credit: AP

It marks the end of an era of high-profile legal cases that grew out of the phone-hacking scandal, one of the darkest periods in the history of the British news media. Murdoch’s UK publishing business has now paid out more than £1 billion in damages to more than 1300 people and subsequent legal fees. The conclusion follows years of courtroom battles stemming from allegations of hacking by journalists and unlawful information gathering from private investigators working for his mastheads throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Harry, having left his royal role, became ostracised from his family, and facing a barrage of public criticism, has made it his mission to take on those in the media whom he has accused of destroying his life and that of other prominent figures with impunity. He cast himself as the last person who could absorb the fight.

“Today the lies are laid bare. Today, the cover-ups are exposed. And today proves that no one stands above the law,” he said in a statement with his joint claimant, former senior British Labour MP Tom Watson.

Between July and December last year, 39 individuals reached settlements with News, including actor Hugh Grant, who resolved his claim after being warned he risked £10 million in legal costs if his case went to trial. Other high-profile individuals who settled, having claimed their personal information was acquired by deception, included actress Sienna Miller, former footballer Paul Gascoigne, comedian Catherine Tate, Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm, ex-Boyzone member Shane Lynch, and Gavin & Stacey actor Mathew Horne.

But the Duke of Sussex had refused to settle, on principle, which forced Murdoch’s group to make an apology. It means there is no full trial. News offered a “full and unequivocal apology” for hacking Harry’s phone and intruding into his personal life and that of Diana, “in particular during his younger years”.

“We acknowledge and apologise for the distress caused to the duke, and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages,” the company said in a five-paragraph statement.

But while it is a vindication for Harry, it does not give him the same satisfaction a victory at trial would have done. He had previously criticised his father and brother William for a “secret agreement”, under which the family agreed to hold off on, or settle, legal claims against News to avoid having to testify about potentially embarrassing details from their intercepted voicemail messages.

Prince Harry claims Fox UK boss Rebekah Brooks was involved in a cover-up. However, Brooks has been cleared of wrong-doing.Credit: Getty Images

The apology was limited and many of Harry’s accusations remained unproven.

He had alleged that figures such as Rebekah Brooks, former Sun editor and now chief executive of News Corp’s British arm, and Will Lewis, now publisher of The Washington Post, knew about the wrongdoing and covered it up, deleting millions of incriminating emails in the process.

There was no admission of this from News and a spokesman said those allegations “were and continue to be strongly denied”. Brooks has denied all wrongdoing and was cleared of criminal charges in a hacking case in 2014.

“Extensive evidence would have been called in trial to rebut these allegations from senior staff from technology and legal,” the spokesman said.

Murdoch shut down The News of the World in 2011 after it emerged that the paper had illegally hacked the voicemail of a murdered schoolgirl, Milly Dowler. But until now, the company had never acknowledged wrongdoing by anyone at The Sun. News emphasised that the admission of unlawful conduct referred to private investigators hired by the paper between 1996 and 2011, and not its journalists.

The last-minute deal underscored the unforgiving economics for private individuals taking on deep-pocketed corporations in Britain. Under UK law that is aimed at resolving disputes out of court where possible, Harry would have been required to pay the legal costs of both sides unless the court awarded him an amount equal to what News offered him in the settlement.

Speaking outside court after the settlement was announced, Watson praised Harry’s courage.

“I once said that the big beasts of the tabloid jungle have no predators,” he said. “I was wrong. They have Prince Harry. His bravery and astonishing courage have brought accountability to a part of the media that thought it was untouchable.”

Harry’s war against the tabloids is far from over. Next year, his lawsuit with singer Elton John and others against the publisher of the Daily Mail and MailOnline, accusing the group of phone-hacking and other unlawful behaviour, is due to be heard at a High Court trial.

The action has come at huge personal cost to the prince. But for the first time in a long time, the majority of the British public is seemingly in his corner.

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