- Written by Dominic Casciani and Emma Harrison
- Home and legal reporter
Court papers said Prince William was paid a “very large sum” by the owners of The Sun newspaper to settle historic phone hacking allegations.
The payment was revealed in 2020 in papers from Prince Harry’s lawyer as part of his legal action against News Group newspapers in the High Court.
The Duke of Sussex is suing the publisher over alleged illegal information gathering.
But NGN says it has run out of time to file a claim.
The documents do not reveal how much Prince William paid, nor do they contain details about it. A spokesman for the Prince of Wales said they would not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
confidentiality agreement
According to Prince Harry’s witness statement, the newspaper’s owners entered into a “confidentiality agreement” with officials at Buckingham Palace to dismiss legal claims from members of the royal family.
Lawyers say this alleged agreement, details of which were not disclosed in court, delayed Prince Harry from bringing his case.
The prince says he first learned of the alleged deal around 2012.
At that time, he learned that the royal staff had begun legal action to hack the phone – and it was believed that he and his brother were personally targeted as well.
When the brothers consulted officials or the royal family’s chief lawyer, he said they were told they could not begin their legal proceedings.
“The rationale behind this was that a confidentiality agreement had been reached between the foundation and senior executives at News Group Newspapers, whereby the royals would only file their phone hacking claims at the conclusion of [all other cases] At that point the allegations will either be accepted or settled with an apology.”
“The reason for this is to avoid the situation where a member of the royal family has to sit in the witness box and recount the specific details of the intercepted very private and sensitive voicemails.”
Prince Harry said courtiers were “incredibly nervous” about repeating damaging revelations of an intimate phone call between his father and Camilla, the Queen’s Queen, which was intercepted and made public at a time when King Charles was still married to Diana.
“It is clear that this agreement, including the promises made by NGN about delaying resolution, was a major factor as to why no claim was made at that time,” Prince Harry said.
NGN denies the existence of any deal.
The case is one of three major cases the Duke of Sussex has brought against tabloids, all alleging illegal information gathering. Other cases concern the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail groups.
Evidence unearthed since the criminal trials – related to the now-closed News of the World phone hack – allegedly proves he was serially targeted by its sister company, The Sun.
Prince Harry has been accusing his journalists and private investigators of obtaining private and confidential information since he was 11 or 12 years old – including details of his personal life and movements.
The Sun’s owners say the Duke of Sussex’s damages claim should be quashed because time has run out – and are applying to have Prince Harry’s case terminated.
If they succeed in their application, it could prevent a high-profile damages claim from actor Hugh Grant.
Grant’s attorneys also oppose the paper’s attempt to close the case during the three-day hearing this week.
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