In 2019, Prince Harry filed a lawsuit against News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun and defunct tabloid News of the World. The Duke claimed the tabloids had obtained personal information illegally.
The long-running battle has finally come to an end, with Rupert Murdoch’s NGN offering the duke a public apology and an eight-figure settlement.
NGN issued the apology on their website. It read, “NGN offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the serious intrusion by The Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun.”
They also admitted they had intruded into the private life of Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana.
“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,” Harry and his co-claimant Tom Watson said in a statement read by their lawyer, David Sherborne, outside the High 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.”
Before the court battle, which ended before it began, certain media outlets reported that King Charles offered Prince Harry to stay at the Palace while in Britain.
The Duke allegedly rejected the offer.
Last year, Prince Harry disputed the Home Office’s decision to cut his security protection while he was in the UK.
Following his departure from royal life, the Royal and VIP Executive Committee (RAVEC) withdrew his automatic police protection. Additionally, his offer to pay for his own security was rejected because British police could not be hired privately.
“It was with great sadness for both of us that my wife and I felt forced to step back from this role and leave the country in 2020,” Harry’s statement, read by his lawyer Shaheed Fatima KC stated, as reported by BBC.
“The UK is my home. The UK is central to the heritage of my children and a place I want them to feel at home as much as where they live at the moment in the US. That cannot happen if it’s not possible to keep them safe when they are on UK soil.”
The Duke added, “I cannot put my wife in danger like that, and, given my experiences in life, I am reluctant to unnecessarily put myself in harm’s way too.”
Royal experts argue that if Harry was indeed offered a stay at the Palace, he should have accepted it. Living inside the palace would have ensured him the security he was fighting for in court.
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