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News Group Newspapers, the British newspaper publisher that owns the tabloid The Sun, has issued an apology to Prince Harry as part of a settlement of the lawsuit the Duke of Sussex filed in 2019. The publisher and owners of the Sun admitted to using unlawful activities to intrude into his private life between 1996 and 2011. By association, the apology was also extended to Princess Diana, who was the target of phone hacking prior to her 1997 death.
“NGN also offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them at the News of the World,” the publisher’s apology read. “NGN further 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, in particular during his younger years.”
The publisher agreed to pay the Duke “substantial damages” in the case, which was expected to go to trial prior to the last-minute settlement agreement. According to BBC, NGN is expected to pay legal fees for all parties, including Harry, The Sun’s owners, and former lawmaker Lord Tom Watson, whose own accusations of hacking were also part of the trial. The fees reportedly total £10 million, not including damages.
Beyond addressing “unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun,” the publisher also acknowledged and apologized for “the distress caused to the Duke, and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family.” It also expressed regret about its response to the 2006 arrest of a royal correspondent for the News of the World, the tabloid NGN shuttered in 2011 but admitted no legal fault there. “Phone hacking at the News of the World was not due to be a part of this trial but it is a part of this settlement,” an additional statement noted.
NGN claimes “strong controls and processes” have since been established to avoid the practices named in the case being utilized going forward.
In the 2024 documentary Tabloids on Trial, Harry expressed remorse that his mother is “not around today to find out the truth” about the tabloid industry. “The tabloid press very much enjoy painting her as being paranoid,” he said about the suspected phone-hacking scandal. “But she wasn’t paranoid, she was absolutely right of what was happening to her.”
The Duke previously prevailed in a lawsuit against the Mirror Group Newspapers, which publishes The Mirror, The Sunday Mirror, and The Sunday People. In 2023, a U.K. judge found that the papers engaged in “unlawful information gathering” tactics, including hacking the phones of Harry and his associates as well as intercepting his voicemails.
