This week, court documents in the United Kingdom revealed claims from Britain’s Prince Harry that his brother and heir to the throne, Prince William, quietly received “a very large sum of money” in a 2020 phone hacking settlement with Rupert Murdoch’s media empire’s newspaper division.
It was one of several explosive revelations made by Harry’s lawyer in witness statements during arguments about why the younger prince’s lawsuit against the publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World tabloids should not be dismissed. The court filings have sparked speculation about other possible secret deals between the royals and the British tabloid press.
A key allegation that has emerged from both Harry’s book “Spare” and his and Meghan’s interviews in recent years is that members of his family or their staff have been “enabling, if not outright collaborating” with Britain’s tabloids, including in a “vicious campaign” to portray Meghan as a bully.
“There would definitely be, on Harry’s side, the sense that there was a cozy cartel between the popular papers and the royal family,” Kelvin MacKenzie, former editor of The Sun, said this week. “He intends to blow this up.” He lashes out at his own family. He bashes the tabloids over the head, kicks Murdoch in the pants — there’s nothing not to like about Harry.”
Buckingham Palace has not commented on the court case in which Harry claims that he has been the victim of phone hacking and other illegal behavior by tabloid journalists since the mid-2000s. The prince, who has lived in California with his family since relinquishing their roles as senior “working” members of the royal family, claims Murdoch’s newspapers illegally accessed his voicemails to obtain private information on him.
Harry claims that his tactics have resulted in headlines that have destroyed some of his personal relationships.
In court documents, Harry claims that the alleged deal was approved by his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II and that it would have prevented the royals from suing the newspaper group in the future.
Murdoch’s News Corporation has denied any secret deal with the royal family.
Over the last decade, Murdoch-owned companies have settled hundreds of similar phone-hacking claims out of court for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages.
“Rupert Murdoch never goes into the witness box,” MacKenzie said. “He’ll go to any length to keep himself or his other executives in London from being cross-examined.” In London, there is a huge game taking place.”
Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers has argued that the hacking lawsuits brought by Harry and Hollywood star Hugh Grant should be dismissed because they were brought too late, but the prince insists he was prevented from bringing his case because of a “secret agreement” between other members of his own family under which there would instead be an apology and out-of-court settlement.
