Prince Harry Takes Legal Action Against Murdoch’s Press Over Wrongdoing Allegations

Prince Harry’s legal fight against Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper group is set to begin in London on Tuesday. The royal is seeking a ruling that top figures within the media company were aware of and actively covered up significant misconduct. Prince Harry, together with former senior lawmaker Tom Watson, is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN) for unlawful activities carried out by journalists and private investigators working for The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World between 1996 and 2011.

Harry, who has stated that his goal is to uncover the truth rather than financial compensation, believes that other claimants settled their cases to avoid massive legal costs. "One of the main reasons for seeing this through is accountability, because I'm the last person that can actually achieve that," he said, and he is scheduled to testify as a witness in February.

NGN has already paid substantial amounts to settle numerous cases involving phone-hacking and illegal information gathering, compensating victims ranging from celebrities to ordinary people. Harry’s legal team has also noted that his brother, Prince William, settled his own case against NGN in 2020 for a large sum.

Although The News of the World was shut down in 2011, NGN continues to deny any unlawful actions at The Sun. The ongoing trial will first address general issues like phone-hacking and illegal data collection. Harry’s team will argue that senior executives were aware of the widespread unlawful activities and misled police, offering false testimony during the media ethics inquiry from 2011 to 2012, along with orchestrating a cover-up that included deleting millions of emails.

NGN strongly denies these claims, labeling them as false and unsustainable, and plans to call a number of witnesses, including experts and senior staff, to defend the company. Other witnesses supporting the claimants include former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, actors Hugh Grant and Sienna Miller, singer Lily Allen, and Heather Mills, ex-wife of Paul McCartney.