As published on Blog do Amaury Jr./UOL SPLASH

In a stunning turnaround after years of litigation, Prince Harry has settled his privacy claim against News Group Newspapers with an undisclosed settlement but, most importantly for him, a full and unequivocal apology from the publisher. It was the part the Duke of Sussex had wanted most in the entire process, a welcome moral victory for Harry, whose 2025 has not been easy, with his wife Meghan Markle facing further personal criticism. “Today the lies are exposed. Today the cover-ups are exposed. And today it proves that no one is above the law. It is time for accountability,” the prince’s lawyer said.

Harry’s privacy case against News Group Newspapers was due to begin in the High Court on 21 January. Still, the prince was absent (he remained in California) and both sides sought a further adjournment, which Judge Timothy Fancourt denied. It would have been the third request for more time, and he said there had been enough time for negotiations. If they had not reached a settlement, Harry would have had to testify in the trial, and many wanted to hear it to learn even more personal details about the fifth-in-line to the throne.

The trial was about how News Group Newspapers (NGN) had illegally collected information about the prince, alleging that its journalists and private investigators targeted him with malicious articles and articles, digging up dirt on his life and that executives at the company helped cover up the misdeeds, something NGN categorically denied doing. Harry alleged that more than 200 articles published by NGN between 1996 and 2011 contained information collected through illegal means, and has repeatedly said that he wanted the case to go to trial so that he could obtain “accountability” for other alleged victims of unlawful news-gathering of private information by NGN journalists.

The settlement means that Harry will no longer be able to seek a court ruling validating his claims. NGN apologized “for the phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them” to The Sun. Furthermore, the group will pay the prince “substantial damages” while the two sides settle their legal claim. The news is another victory for the Duke of Sussex. Two years ago, Fox (which is part of the NGN group) paid almost $800 million to settle allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 US presidential election, and while the amount to be paid to Harry is confidential, it is equally important to him.

Since 2019, when he decided to embrace the crusade against the tabloids, Harry has seen himself as a “Don Quixote” against misinformation. In his official statement about the lawsuit, the lawyer associated all the negative coverage of the Duke and Meghan as retaliation for his initiative. “As a direct result of his position, Prince Harry and his immediate family have also had to endure repeated aggressive and vindictive coverage since the beginning of his claim more than five years ago. This has created serious concerns for the safety of him and his family,” the lawyer said.

The lawsuit against NGN was not just Harry’s. Other celebrities such as Hugh Grant and Sienna Miller were in the same fight, but they reached settlements in 2024 because the personal and financial strain was too risky. With this, Harry took on the position of standing up for everyone, not giving up on moving forward. His brother, William, the Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, also sued the same group in 2020, reaching a financial settlement and keeping all negotiations confidential, something that Harry’s fans have always criticized, more so than in a statement against the BBC, William said that the press contributed to his mother’s feelings of paranoia and Harry considers that she was not paranoid, but correct. But that is another discussion.

The NGN statement reads: “NGN offers a full and unequivocal apology to The Duke of Sussex for The Sun’s serious intrusion between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activity carried out by private investigators working for The Sun. NGN also apologizes to The Duke for the impact on him of the extensive coverage and serious intrusion into his private life, as well as the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, particularly during her younger years. We acknowledge and apologize for the distress caused to The Duke and the harm caused to his relationships, friendships, and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages. It is also acknowledged, without any admission of wrongdoing, that NGN’s response to the 2006 arrests and subsequent actions were disgraceful.”

The fact that they included his mother in the apology reinforces Harry’s position (against William) and, again, one of the most important facts of the victory since he has always said that his mission was to obtain the truth and accountability from the group, even after other claimants settled cases to avoid the risk of a multimillion-dollar legal bill.

As Harry said recently, the reason he had not reached a settlement was that his interest was not financial, but moral. Now that he has secured the apology, he has gained the credibility he so desperately sought in his mission. As expected, he has already said that he will not stop there. “The rule of law must now take its full course. Prince Harry and Tom Watson join others in calling on the police and Parliament to investigate not only the illegal activity now finally admitted, but the perjury and cover-ups along the way,” the lawyer said. For Harry, who has embraced this fight against disinformation as his legacy, today is more than just historic, it is just the beginning.

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