UK newspapers delay Prince Harry’s court battle against Murdoch news
British prince and former senior MP Tom Watson is suing News Group Newspapers over alleged illegal activities.
The start of Prince Harry’s court battle against Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper group has been delayed amid chaos at London’s High Court over last-minute settlement discussions between the two sides.
Harry and former senior MP Tom Watson are suing News Group Newspapers over alleged illegal activities by journalists and private investigators who worked for its newspaper The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World from 1996 to 2011.
With the eight-week trial set to begin, Harry and Watson’s lawyer David Sherborne on Tuesday asked Judge Timothy Fancourt for more time to continue discussions.
Fancourt accepted the request but said this should be a “final adjournment” and that if no agreement was reached proceedings would be resumed.
Sherbourne later asked for more time to negotiate, which was supported by NGN’s lawyer Anthony Hudson, who cited “difficulties of the time difference” in a possible reference to Harry living in California.
Fancourt said he did not believe the court filings contained anything that would impact settlement efforts, to which Hudson said that “there will be other matters occurring when the litigation begins that will have a very significant impact on the dynamics of the settlement “.
The judge refused to give the parties any more time and said some lawyers on both sides could continue discussing a possible deal until the trial begins.
Asked by Hudson to hold a brief discussion in private, Fancourt replied, “I’m not going to start secret hearings about what’s going on.”
The judge also refused permission to appeal. He then left the court, leaving the parties to appeal directly to the Court of Appeal, acknowledging that the move meant they would probably achieve their goal anyway.
hundreds of settlements
The Prince has said that his mission is not money but to get to the truth, as other claimants have settled cases to avoid the risk of multi-million pound legal bills that could be imposed even if they win in court, but he NGN’s proposal was rejected.
“One of the main reasons we’re looking at this is accountability, because I’m the last person who can really get it,” Harry, who appeared on the witness stand in February, said last month.
NGN has paid out millions of pounds to victims of phone-hacking and other unlawful information gathering by the News of the World, and settled more than 1,300 lawsuits involving celebrities, politicians, well-known sports figures and those associated with them. Or major events.
Harry’s legal team has said in earlier court documents that his older brother Prince William, who is heir to the throne, settled his case against NGN in 2020 for a “very large sum”.
While Murdoch closed the News of the World in 2011, the publisher has always rejected claims that there was any illegal activity at the Sun and says it will fully defend the claims.
