|
The
announcement in London’s High Court came despite the Duke of
Sussex’s vow that he was the one person who could hold the
publishers of The Sun and now-defunct News of the World
accountable at trial for unlawfully snooping on him, other
famous figures and average citizens in the news because of
tragedies.
Under English court rules, though, he faced a potentially
astronomical legal bill even if he won and may have ultimately
decided — as hundreds of other claimants have — that he couldn’t
risk the cost.
“One of the main reasons for seeing this through is
accountability, because I’m the last person that can actually
achieve that,” he told The New York Times Dealbook Summit in
December when he said he wouldn't settle.
The deal means that Harry will not be able to seek a court
ruling validating his allegations that News Group Newspapers'
journalists went to illegal extremes to dig up dirt on his life
and that executives at the company helped cover up the bad acts.
Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles III, and one other
man were the only two remaining claimants out of more than 1,300
others who had settled lawsuits against News Group Newspapers
over allegations their phones were hacked and investigators
unlawfully intruded in their lives.
In all the cases that have been brought against the publisher
since a widespread phone hacking scandal forced Murdoch to close
News of the World in 2011, Harry’s case got the closest to
trial.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
|
|
