The revelation came out in court documents relating to a trial involving Prince Harry, his brother
Prince William has been revealed to have settled a phone-hacking claim against Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper empire three years ago, for what was called a “very large sum” after a secret deal struck with Buckingham Palace.
That’s according to lawyers for William’s brother Prince Harry in court documents.
Harry is suing Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers, or NGN, at the High Court in London.
The case is about multiple unlawful acts allegedly committed on behalf of its tabloids, the Sun and now defunct News of the World, from the mid-1990s until 2016.
The newspaper group has paid out millions of pounds to settle more than a thousand phone-hacking cases.
During three days of preliminary hearings this week NGN is seeking to strike out claims by the prince and British actor Hugh Grant, arguing they should have taken action sooner.
It denies anyone from the Sun was involved in any unlawful activity. NGN’s lawyer also denies there was any “secret agreement” between the publisher and the royal family.
In a submission to the court, Harry’s legal team said the reason he had not brought action before was because a deal had been agreed between NGN and Buckingham Palace to hold off any claims until the conclusion of other outstanding phone-hacking litigation.
They said that Prince William had quote “settled his claim against NGN behind the scenes” in 2020.
William’s office said it could not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
During a criminal trial brought against News of the World journalists and others in 2014, its former royal editor Clive Goodman said in the mid-2000s he had hacked the voicemails of Harry, William, and William’s wife Kate.
