- Prince Harry has settled his case with the Sun owner NGM
- Prince reported to receive £10m and has got an apology
- The Sun has admitted unlawful activities to get stories on Prince Harry
- Left wing press celebrate, right-wing slam him for settling the case
Trending – Prince Harry settles his case with the Sun. Historic victory or sell-out?
Prince Harry has settled his case with the owners of The Sun newspaper News Group Newspapers (NGM) for engaging in illegal practices to source stories about him between 1996 and 2011. The Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid rarely issues apologies, but along with a reported £10 million payout, the prince got exactly that.
In a statement, a spokesman for NGN said: “Our apology to the Duke of Sussex includes an apology for incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun, not by journalists, during the period 1996-2011.
The apology is the first time the tabloid has admitted unlawful activities and also included an apology to the late Princess Diana.
But for the tabloid – and the right-wing press, the coverage has pulled into question why Harry decided to settle after previously saying he wouldn’t as his aim was accountability.
Harry and his team would argue that the apology is all the proof you need, but the Sun has got away with not having to admit to phone hacking or providing any specifics about the crimes they committed.
The right-leaning newspapers lean into this and push the idea that the prince chose to settle when enough money was on the table – after previously aiming a dig at his brother for reaching a financial settlement.
WTX opinion on Harry settling case
You’ll see the left claiming victory and the right suggesting Harry dragged the case out for money – having previously said he wouldn’t settle as it was about accountability.
One thing for sure is that this is historic and finally the Sun newspaper has admitted unlawful activities – a shameful truth. It would have been nice for the tabloid to have to explain in detail the crimes they have committed but we understand Harry’s desire to move on. He got his apology – and it looks like the law could change because of his efforts.
Hopefully, the UK government will now start to look at the mess of the UK media landscape and bring an end to media conglomerates – especially those owned by foreign billionaires.
The reaction
Of the four newspapers that lead with the story, The Guardian, The i and The Independent note the historical nature of the win, which saw NGN do something they rarely do – apologise. ‘Historic admission of illegal practises used to get stories about Harry,’ says The Guardian. ‘Nandy working to draw up changes to media rules in wake of the lawsuit,’ says the i. ‘Harry wins £10m,’ says The Independent.
The Daily Telegraph unsurprisingly has a different take. The paper calls it a ‘climb down’ from Harry and lightly suggests he was seeking a bigger payout than what his brother received, questioning why he had all of a sudden struck a deal rather than complete his quest of holding the tabloids to account.
Front pages react
