The Sun apologizes to Prince Harry… and Diana

Prince Harry has won a significant victory against the British press group News Group Newspapers (NGN), owner of the tabloids The Sun and the former News of the World, owned by billionaire and Fox News chief Rupert Murdoch.

NGN has presented official apologies to Prince Harry as part of a settlement.

These apologies were made as part of a settlement reached while a trial was scheduled in London. Prince Harry was suing the publisher of The Sun and the former News of the World newspaper, accusing News Group Newspapers (NGN) of illegally gathering private information about him.

In July 2023, the High Court in London ruled that certain allegations of illegal information gathering by NGN, brought by Prince Harry, could proceed to trial, but dismissed the claims for phone tapping, which were deemed to be late.

Since early January 2025, intensive negotiations for an amicable settlement have been underway. However, due to ongoing delays, the judge assigned to the case had lost patience and ordered the start of the trial as scheduled.

A settlement has finally been reached between Prince Harry and NGN, allowing for the avoidance of a public trial. As part of this arrangement, NGN has issued a formal apology to Prince Harry for the serious intrusions into his private life, also surprisingly acknowledging that it had violated the privacy of his late mother, Princess Diana.

According to People magazine, this agreement would also include substantial damages, estimated at over 12 million dollars, covering both legal fees and indemnities.

It is worth noting that the legal battle between Prince Harry and News Group Newspapers began in 2019. The prince had then filed a lawsuit against The Sun and the former News of the World, accusing these publications of having orchestrated illegal practices between 1996 and 2011.

According to Harry, journalists and private investigators, acting on behalf of these media outlets, allegedly fraudulently accessed his private voicemails and collected confidential information about him.

These “full and unequivocal apologies” presented by NGN to Prince Harry for phone tapping, surveillance, and the misuse of private information by journalists and private detectives in their employ represent a significant victory for Harry.

This fight is particularly close to his heart, as it is closely linked to the story of his mother, Princess Diana, whose tabloids played a major role in the circumstances leading to her tragic death in 1997.