By Gareth Vipers

Prince Harry reached a last-minute settlement with Rupert Murdoch's U.K. newspaper group, ending a yearslong legal battle over press intrusion, unlawful information gathering and predatory practices by the tabloids.

In a statement read out in court Wednesday, News Group Newspapers apologized to the prince and agreed to pay "substantial damages" for what it described as "the serious intrusion" by two of its flagship titles, the Sun and the News of the World.

A spokesperson for the company said unlawful activities were carried out by private investigators working for the Sun but denied any wrongdoing by its journalists and said phone hacking had not taken place at the title. The company also apologized for phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists at the News of the World.

"There are strong controls and processes in place at all our titles today to ensure this cannot happen now," the spokesperson said.

Announced the day after a long-awaited trial was due to begin in London's High Court, the settlement spares the company from potentially damaging testimony detailing its alleged use of illegal methods for more than a decade.

Speaking outside the court Wednesday, the prince's lawyer said the settlement represented vindication for him and hundreds of other victims of press intrusion.

"In a monumental victory today, News UK have admitted that the Sun, the flagship title for Rupert Murdoch's U.K. media empire, has indeed engaged in illegal practices," David Sherborne said.

News Group Newspapers apologized to the prince, using his alternative title, the Duke of Sussex, for making intrusions into his life and that of his mother, the late Princess Diana, who died when he was 12 years old.

"We acknowledge and apologise for the distress caused to the Duke, and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages," the company said in the apology read out in the court.

News Group Newspapers is owned by News Corp, the parent company of The Wall Street Journal.

The News of the World was closed in 2011 after a public backlash around accusations a private investigator hired by the paper had hacked the phone of a missing schoolgirl who was later found murdered.

The resulting police inquiry found phone hacking was a widespread practice at the publication, and resulted in a number of convictions, including the jailing of several News of the World journalists and private investigators.

The prince has written and spoken at length about the effect tabloid journalists, paparazzi and private investigators have had on his life. In his 2023 memoir, "Spare," he explained that he had told his then-girlfriend Chelsy Davy how to treat press intrusion like "a chronic illness." He wrote that he worried, in the context of that relationship, that the press would "cost me another person I cared about." His mother died in a car crash in 1997 after being chased by paparazzi in Paris.

The prince has pursued legal cases through the British courts against several publishers. In 2023, a British court awarded the prince almost $180,000 in damages after finding that journalists at titles run by the Mirror Group Newspapers hacked his cellphone to get scoops.

Several other high-profile figures have settled cases against News Group Newspapers in recent years, including actors Hugh Grant and Sienna Miller. The company also issued an apology to U.K. lawmaker Lord Watson Wednesday for intrusions into his private life.

"I am glad they have apologized and acknowledged the direct harm caused by years of unlawful surveillance by their journalists and their army of private investigators, not just to my family but to Prince Harry and his, " Watson said outside the court.

Write to Gareth Vipers at gareth.vipers@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 22, 2025 10:18 ET (15:18 GMT)

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