Prince Harry's legal team has shared first statement after winning privacy invasion lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN) group.
In a surprising turn of events, the Duke of Sussex finally settled his ongoing legal battle with UK's media giant over invasion of privacy between 2009-2011 on Wednesday, January 22, 2025.
Both parties come to the settlement in a last-minute breakthrough following hours-long crunch talks.
The lawsuit was settled after the 40-year-old received a detailed official apology from The Sun publishers.
After the settlement, a source from Prince Harry's team expressed thoughts on NGN's apology noting, "The apology provides all the insight you need".
While a separate source told BBC News that NGN were "surprised by the serious approach by Prince Harry for settlement in recent days".
NGN group issued a formal apology to the Duke of Sussex in an official statement, which read, "NGN offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the serious intrusion by The Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun."
"NGN also offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them at the News of the World."
"NGN further apologises to the Duke for the impact on him of the extensive coverage and serious intrusion into his private life as well as the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, in particular during his younger years," the statement added.
NGN further noted, "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.
"It is also acknowledged, without any admission of illegality, that NGN's response to the 2006 arrests and subsequent actions were regrettable."
"NGN also offers a full and unequivocal apology to Lord Watson for the unwarranted intrusion carried out into his private life during his time in Government by the News of the World during the period 2009- 2011," added the statement.
