In 2020, Prince William received a “very large sum” of money from News Group Newspapers (NGN), the British newspaper arm of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, as a settlement for a phone-hacking case. This was revealed by Prince Harry’s lawyer in a court document on Tuesday as part of Harry’s lawsuit against NGN for allegedly hacking into royals’ phones for two decades.
Prince Harry claimed that he was prevented from suing NGN earlier because of a “secret agreement” between the royal family and the newspapers, which involved an apology and a promise not to pursue further litigation. The agreement was authorized by Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away earlier this year. Harry said he started seeking a resolution in 2017 but filed his lawsuit in 2019 after NGN “filibustered”.
Prince William’s settlement was kept quiet for years but came to light now because of Harry’s case. It is not clear how much money William received, but his lawyer described it as “a very large sum”. William is the heir to the British throne, while Harry stepped back from royal duties last year and moved to the US with his wife, Meghan Markle and their two children.
