Prince Harry’s highly anticipated trial against Rupert Murdoch’s London tabloids for illegal news gathering opened on Tuesday. But the hearing was immediately adjourned amid signs the prince was considering a last-minute settlement offer from Mr Murdoch’s News Group newspapers.
A lawyer for Harry asked the judge for one hour, before requesting a further delay until 2 p.m. London time. During the break, lawyers gathered in the corridors of the High Court, which was teeming with journalists gathered to cover a trial that was expected to be the last major legal settlement for victims of the phone hacking scandal that has tarnished the news media British for over a decade. There is.
If Harry agrees to a settlement, it will save him from serious financial risk, regardless of his standing in court. Under English law, he would be required to pay both parties’ legal costs – which could run into tens of millions of dollars – if the court does not award him an amount proportionate to what News Group Newspapers awarded him. proposed as part of a regulation.
For News Group, it would avoid weeks of damaging testimony about phone hacking and other illegal methods its journalists used to ferret out information about Harry and other figures. News Group, which denies the accusations, has settled similar claims with hundreds of other plaintiffs over the years.
The judge in the case, Timothy Fancourt, granted the adjournment somewhat reluctantly, telling lawyers for both sides that he would do so on the grounds that the additional time would be “beneficial” in producing some sort of result. Both sides had a strong incentive to reach a compromise.
Harry’s lawyers planned to present not only illegal behavior, but also what they describe as a systematic scheme of email deletion to cover up the hack. They questioned why News Group did not intend to call those they claimed were primarily responsible for the cover-up: Mr Murdoch’s younger son James; Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News UK; and Will Lewis, a former company executive who is now publisher of the Washington Post.
Harry, who was away from the courtroom Tuesday, said he expected his legal costs to dwarf any settlement he receives from the court. But because of his resources and his profile as the youngest son of King Charles III, he said he had a rare chance to hold the tabloids to account for years of predatory behavior.
“One of the biggest reasons for doing this is accountability, because I’m the last person who can do this,” Harry said last month in an interview at The New York Times’ DealBook Summit.
News Group newspapers have not commented on the settlement negotiations. But in a statement last week, the company said “it made commercial sense” to agree financial terms with others who have filed lawsuits against The Sun, one of two tabloids owned by Mr. Murdoch, without admitting their responsibility.
Mr Murdoch closed his other tabloid, The News of the World, in 2011 after accusations of phone hacking escalated into a national scandal. He issued a contrite apology for the conduct of The News of the World, but the company never admitted wrongdoing by The Sun’s editors and reporters.
Harry was due to testify at the end of February, once the court has completed what it blandly calls the “generic case”. During this phase, lawyers for Harry and another plaintiff, Tom Watson, a former deputy leader of the Labor Party, planned to establish evidence of widespread and deep-rooted misconduct by editors and journalists. from the Sun, as well as efforts to purge incriminating emails.
News Group settled that case with all but two of the original plaintiffs, including actor Hugh Grant, as well as cases involving 1,300 other hacking claims. Mr. Grant said in April which he felt obliged to settle, because “even if every allegation was proven in court, I would still be liable for some £10 million in costs.” I’m afraid to hide in front of this fence.
Lawyers for Harry, also known as the Duke of Sussex, and Mr Watson, a member of the House of Lords, wrote in a summary of their case: “To put it bluntly, this case is not a question of silver for the Duke and Lord Watson.
“They want findings and accountability for what was done to them, as well as what was done more generally” by News Group and its senior executives “to thousands of victims,” the lawyers wrote.
