Prince Harry's court case takes unexpected turn - details
Lawyers for the Duke of Sussex and News Group Newspapers (NGN) are "very close" to a settlement after days of "very intense negotiations," it has emerged.
It comes after Prince Harry, Lord Tom Watson (another remaining claimant) made a joint bid to ask for permission to appeal against the decision of Mr Justice Fancourt to not allow a third adjournment at the High Court on Tuesday.
Anthony Hudson KC, for NGN, said: "Both parties are in complete agreement… The number of times the parties have been in agreement in this litigation are very few and far between."
Mr Hudson said the legal teams for both sides "have been involved in very intense negotiations over the last few days and the reality is we are very close".
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Mr Justice Fancourt refused the parties' permission to challenge his decision not to adjourn at the Court of Appeal.
However, both sides could still make a bid directly at the Court of Appeal itself.
Mr Justice Fancourt said: "I’m not going to stand in the way of access to justice if the parties wish to go to the Court of Appeal."
The Duke, 40, has accused NGN of unlawful information-gathering. Between 1996 and 2011, he has claimed that journalists and private investigators employed by NGN illegally accessed his personal information.
Around 40 other claimants, including the likes of Hugh Grant and Sienna Miller, have already settled claims against Murdoch's group.
Others who have settled cases include: ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne; comic Catherine Tate; radio presenter Chris Moyles; Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm; former Boyzone member Shane Lynch and actor Mathew Horne.
At a summit held in New York in December last year, the Duke said some 1,300 people had settled their claims, adding: "They've settled because they've had to settle. So therefore, one of the main reasons for seeing this through is accountability, because I'm the last person that can actually achieve that."
Harry launched his legal action in 2019 – the same week that his wife Meghan Markle took legal action after a private letter was published.
A spokesperson for NGN previously said: "In 2011, an apology was published by NGN to victims of voicemail interception by the News Of The World. The company publicly committed to paying financial compensation and since then has paid settlements to those with claims.
"In some cases, particularly those relating to The Sun, it has made commercial sense, and in accordance with common litigation practice, for the parties to come to a financial settlement without NGN accepting liability.
"These civil proceedings have been running for many years and concern only historical events from between 14 and 29 years ago.
"There are two outstanding cases which have not managed to come to a resolution and are proceeding to trial next week, relating to Lord Watson of Wyre Forest and the Duke of Sussex.
"Lord Watson makes allegations of unlawful information gathering and phone hacking concentrating on the period 2009-2011. NGN strongly denies that any of its titles hacked Mr Watson or acted unlawfully and will also argue his claim is brought out of time.
"The duke alleges unlawful information gathering from 1996-2011. His allegations of mobile-phone hacking have been struck out by the court so will not be part of the trial."
They continued: "His claim focuses now on allegations of unlawful information gathering by enquiry agents and alleged private investigators instructed by NGN journalists mainly in the early 2000s."
In 2023, Prince Harry settled the remaining parts of his phone hacking claim against the publisher of the Daily Mirror. He sued Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for damages, claiming journalists at its publications were linked to methods including phone hacking, so-called "blagging" – gaining information by deception – and use of private investigators for unlawful activities.
In December that year, the Duke was awarded £140,600 in damages after Mr Justice Fancourt concluded there was "extensive" phone hacking generally by MGN from 2006 to 2011, "even to some extent" during the Leveson Inquiry into media standards.
