Prince Harry declared a “monumental” victory over Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper group on Wednesday after the publisher settled his lawsuit, for the first time admitting to unlawful practices at “The Sun” tabloid and agreeing to pay substantial damages.
“In a monumental victory today, News UK has acknowledged that The Sun, the flagship publication of Rupert Murdoch’s UK media empire, engaged in illegal activities,” Harry and his co-claimant Tom Watson said in a statement.
“Today, the lies are exposed. Today, the cover-ups are uncovered. And today, it is clear that no one is above the law. The time for accountability has come,” the statement read, delivered by their lawyer David Sherborne outside the High Court.
Why did Prince Harry sue The Sun?
Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles, had filed a lawsuit against News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World, at the High Court in London. He accused the papers of illegally obtaining private information about him between 1996 and 2011.
In a statement read by his lawyer, Harry asserted that he had secured the accountability he sought not only for himself but also for hundreds of others, including ordinary people, whose privacy had been violated.
News Group acknowledged “phone hacking, surveillance, and the misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators” targeting Harry. Prior to the trial, NGN had vehemently denied these allegations.
