LONDON (AP) — A sequel to Prince Harry vs. a British tabloid stalled Tuesday amid settlement negotiations ahead of the start of a high-stakes trial between Prince Harry and Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper.
Charles III’s second son Harry, 40, and another claimant, publishers of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World, were accused of unauthorized use of their mobile phones. Only one remains among hundreds of people who settled lawsuits against News Group Newspapers. They were hacked and investigators illegally peered into their lives.
It will be the first case of its kind to go to court against the publisher since Mr Murdoch was forced to shut down the News of the World in 2011 following a major phone hacking scandal. The news group has settled more than 1,300 other lawsuits.
The trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday morning but was postponed until the afternoon as the parties held private out-of-court settlement talks.
When Judge Timothy Fancourt refused a further postponement until Wednesday, lawyers for both sides said they would go to the Court of Appeal to challenge his ruling, effectively stalling the start of the trial.
Anthony Hudson, the News Group’s lawyer, said there had been productive discussions and warned that if the trial were to begin before “very intense negotiations” were completed, there could be “very large damages”. He said that there is.
This will be the Duke of Sussex’s second trial at London’s High Court over his long-running feud with the media over who is responsible for the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash while being chased in 1997. By paparazzi in Paris. He also blames persistent attacks on his wife, actor Meghan Markle, for leading the couple to abandon royal life and flee to the United States in 2020.
Prince Harry says his mission to hold the media to account has caused a rift with his family, but he feels he has no choice but to expose wrongdoing. .
He won a similar case against the publisher of the Daily Mirror newspaper in 2023, and another case against the publisher of the Daily Mail is pending.
Let’s take a look at that case below.
Allegations targeting editors and executives
Harry alleges that News Group journalists and the private investigators they hired used illegal methods and invaded his privacy to dig up dirt on him and his family from 1996 to 2011.
Former Labor deputy leader Tom Watson, also a complainant, said his voicemails were intercepted during the investigation into the hacking scandal.
Their lawyers say the newspaper widely used deception to obtain medical records, telephone records, flight records, and bugged homes and cars. said.
They claim that executives concealed the theft of the skull by destroying documents and other means.
“This allegation is false, unsustainable and strongly denied,” the news group said in a statement.
Former executives accused of involvement include Will Lewis, now CEO of the Washington Post, and Rebecca Brooks, CEO of News UK, a division of News Corp. He denies any wrongdoing.
Mr Brooks was acquitted of phone hacking conspiracy charges at a criminal trial in 2014, but his former colleague Andy Coulson, who later became Prime Minister David Cameron’s press secretary, was jailed.
News Group strongly denied the allegations and said Prince Harry had failed to file the lawsuit within the mandatory six-year deadline.
News Group apologized to victims of the News of the World phone hacking in 2011, but The Sun has never accepted responsibility.
Strong incentive to settle down
Actor Hugh Grant was one of Prince Harry’s remaining co-plaintiffs, but even if he won in court, he could be sued for 10 million pounds (about $12.3 million) as a settlement. He said he was forced to accept a “huge amount”. Trial.
Under British civil law, a plaintiff who wins a lower judgment than the settlement offer must pay the legal costs of both parties. The law aims to prevent lengthy trials.
Despite the serious financial risks, Prince Harry told the New York Times Dealbook Summit in December that he had no intention of folding.
“They settled because they had to settle,” he said of the other claimants. “One of the main reasons for seeing this through is accountability, because I’m the last person who can actually achieve that.” It’s because they’re human,” he said.
Lawsuits that cause conflict between family members
The trial is expected to last 10 weeks, with Prince Harry expected to be back on the witness stand for several days in February.
In 2023, Prince Harry became the first senior member of the royal family to testify in court since the late 19th century, when Queen Victoria’s eldest son Prince Albert Edward twice testified.
That puts Prince Harry at odds with a family known for their “never complain, never explain” attitude.
Prince Harry revealed in court documents that his father opposed the lawsuit. He also said his brother William, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, had accepted a “huge amount” to settle charges against News Group.
Prince Harry said the tabloid war was at the heart of his rift with his family.
“The mission continues, but certainly, as you say, it has caused some of the rifts,” Prince Harry said in the documentary “Tabloid on Trial.”
Prince Harry said he wished his family had also stood up to the media attacks.
“But I’m doing this for my own reasons,” he said.
Lawsuit proceeds to trial despite setbacks
The news group has been unsuccessful in trying to crush the case over the past two years, while Prince Harry suffered setbacks in a series of sometimes damaging hearings.
The publisher succeeded in getting Harry’s phone hacking charges dismissed, but only after a judge ruled that Harry should have been aware of the widely publicized scandal and could have filed the lawsuit sooner. Because I said it.
The judge also rejected Mr. Harry’s efforts to expand the case to include allegations of wiretapping his mother, unearthing private information about his wife, and involvement of Murdoch.
Mr Harry claimed that Mr Murdoch, the chief executive of the company that controls NGN, had either taken part in efforts to cover up evidence of the hacking or had “turned a blind eye” to the hacking. The judge said these allegations did not materially affect those involving other “reliable police lieutenants” such as Mr Brooks and Mr Murdoch’s younger son James Murdoch.
The judge also rejected Prince Harry’s proposal to include allegations that Buckingham Palace had secret agreements with News Group executives, calling for a settlement and apology after other phone-hacking cases are resolved. .
Judge Timothy Fancourt said Prince Harry did not produce any witnesses or documents to show that his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, approved the deal to protect the royal family from embarrassing litigation.
The publisher denied that there was a secret agreement.
