Murdoch’s British newspaper apologizes to Prince Harry for illegal actions

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Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloid has apologized and agreed to pay “substantial compensation” to Prince Harry, admitting for the first time that illegal activities took place at The Sun.

In a landmark settlement with the Duke of Sussex, his lawyer David Sherborne told the High Court in London on Wednesday that News Group Newspapers had offered a “full and unequivocal apology” for the “serious interference” in the prince’s private life by The Sun between 1996 and 1996. and 2011.

Admissions are a blow to Murdoch an empire that for a decade denied any wrongdoing at The Sun, despite paying more than £1 billion in costs and settlements over almost all phone hacking claims against the wider British news group.

But it will mean NGN will avoid a court ruling on broad allegations of phone hacking and other illegal activities, as well as claims of a cover-up involving top executives.

In a statement, NGN apologized “for the distress caused to the Prince and the damage caused to relationships, friendships and family” and apologized to the Prince for the way he treated Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother.

The company added that it had agreed to pay him “substantial compensation” in relation to “illegal activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun”. No value provided.

The prince was the only remaining plaintiff in the High Court case against NGN, alongside former Labor Party deputy leader Lord Tom Watson, to whom the company also apologized on Wednesday.

The company apologized “fully and unequivocally” to Watson for “unwarranted interference” with his private life during his tenure at the now-defunct News of the World newspaper from 2009 to 2011.

She admitted that in 2009 he was under surveillance by journalists from a Sunday tabloid and also agreed to pay him “significant compensation.” Terms were not disclosed.