I’m still on cloud nine because of Prince Harry’s unqualified victory. What a man! What a warrior! He spent years fighting News Group Newspapers and one of the most powerful media companies in the world. The trial, which was originally scheduled to start on Tuesday, was going to be a six-weeks-long affair which would have seen the Murdochs’ criminal empire put under a microscope. The Murdochs might have settled, but Harry got what he really wanted: an open and public admission that NGN was engaged in criminal activity for years, and a thorough apology to Harry and his late mother. Here’s the video of Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne making a statement outside of court today (this is the statement I included in the previous post).
What’s extremely notable to me is that Harry is still calling out NGN’s illegal activity. NGN’s apology is an on-the-record admission, not only of the crimes they committed but years of perjury and false statements in various situations. In essence, Harry is admitting that he took this further than anyone else could, but the rest of it must be done by the authorities, the police and politicians. And he’s right. This system of trying to fundamentally change the British press through civil litigation/out-of-court settlements was clearly not working.
NPR’s David Folkenflik – who has been covering this case for years – also reports something I long suspected, which is that NGN made multiple settlement overtures to Prince Harry and Tom Watson much earlier in the process, but the settlement offers never included an apology or acknowledgement of NGN’s wrongdoing. Basically, the only reason why Harry and Tom Watson agreed to the “massive” settlement this week is because NGN finally moved on the wording of the apology and admission.
Emma Jones, Hacked Off Board Director, spoke out following the settlement, saying: “It is now clear that the public and Parliament were lied to by the newspaper and its publisher, as part of the most extraordinary corporate cover up in living memory.” Tom Watson, the only co-plantiff left on the case with Prince Harry, also made his own statement via Twitter (see below). There are now widespread calls from media-watchdog groups, political groups and British citizens to force the government to truly investigate and prosecute NGN.
Update: People Magazine reports that the settlement “likely exceeded $12 million, covering damages in his case against the publisher over accusations of illegal information gathering by journalists and private investigators.” I was thinking that it would be much larger than that – surely it’s something more in the $20-30 million range, right?
Like every other person persecuted by News Group Newspapers, I wish they had left my family alone. But what happened, happened.
— Tom Watson (@tom_watson) January 22, 2025
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch annual party at Spencer House, St James’ Place. Featuring: Rupert Murdoch Where: London, United Kingdom When: 22 Jun 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex attending the final day of the One Year to Go Event before the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025 and go curling at the Vancouver Curling Club at Hillcrest Community Centre Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Vancouver, Canada When: 16 Feb 2024 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
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- Guests arrive to attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 May 2024 Credit: Cover Images
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- Guests arrive to attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 May 2024 Credit: Cover Images
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- Guests attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 May 2024 Credit: Cover Images
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- Guests attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: London, United Kingdom When: 08 May 2024 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
Would love nothing more than to see the Murdoch empire dismantled into nothing.. that will only happen in a criminal court and I don’t have faith in any government doing that. Glad Prince Harry won and at least got a confession.
I have no faith that government will do anything, either.
BUT, a big win for Harry is not having the sign an NDA. I think that’s just as important as the confession, because details of the dirty goings on can continue to come to light.
Eat it, VF, RF, RM et al
I hope he writes a second book just focused on what he discovered and his experiences dealing with the tabloids and courts. Love that he got the confession and enough money the rota can stop worrying about them being broke.
Wow!!! I’m glad they got what they wanted out of this and are happy with the result. I worry though that the police and politicians are not going to do their jobs in the investigation and it won’t change. I truly hope for all those hurt and defamed by the lies will get the justice that they deserve!!
Harry fought like hell, had his wife and family dragged through all manner of vitriolic attacks and stood his ground to reach this point. He got his victory, what happens from here is no longer on his shoulders. They chased him out of his country that he served 10 years in the military fighting for with little to no respect. The British people need to now stand up and fight their own battles.
Well said, @Moniquep. It’s time for the British People to take this victory and run with it. Harry has suffered all his life and needs to go have his time in the literal sun, with his family. Next year the fight continues with the Daily Fail!
Let’s hope he donates the settlement to charity like William did.
Why should he donate that money, doesn’t he have children who can make use of it once they are adults.
Moreover PW has the crown and will never lack anything interms of money. So the princes are not comparable in that regard.
#StopPocketWatching
@RainyDays
Nah. Harry deserves to spend this money on luxuries for himself, his wife and his children. He trudged through years of hell to get to this point.
William did nothing to secure an acknowledgement of what they did to Diana (I bet that part really chaps Peg’s ass today).
Harry, the true bearer of Diana’s legacy, secured something big for her today.
I particularly love that he denied the Brit media his 4-day return to the UK, for which they were drooling in anticipation of stories about where he would stay, who he would see, snubbing the king, blah blah, fucking blah. Many stories were planned, I’m sure.
Considering the cost of security for Harry and his family, which is solely attributable to the hate and vitriol instigated by these tabloid scumbags. Why should he give the money to charity. He needs to use it to fund the unnecessary expense that they have and are still causing him. In addition to the fact that the scumbags are trying to attack his income stream in their delusional attempt to force him back to the UK.
This is just nonsense. Harry should chop his moni and let the haters and all their minions choke on the fact that the money won in this lawsuit is not being donated in any way, shape or form, period. The haters are all forming at the mouth with this insanity “Harry needs to donate the money” and all that nonsense, please, shut the front door. Is RuperteffingMurdock donating all his money to charity? Shut the front door please.
Harry shouldn’t have to give the money away to charity. Whether he does or doesn’t they will still continue to be crucified, vilified by the UK media. Damn if they do damn if they don’t. One wonders in fact what’s the end game of the UK media and those who, behind the scenes, cooperate and leak all these negative stories to the media? Can’t believe they really want H&M back in the UK. There are more sinister aims at play.
How much do you guys think he got in the settlement? I find it ironic that they’re trying so hard to break the Sussexes up, sabotage their careers in the states etc but now the very press that won’t leave them alone have made them millions because the Sussexes don’t even need advertising and marketing. Spare was a success, the documentary, her children’s book, Archetypes, awards etc were successful because the incessant press. Now you just gave accountability and more money in their pockets to pay for security, among other things. Going back to England with their tails tucked between their legs ain’t happening.
It really sounds like neither of them will ever need to work again. At least not for money.
They have an expensive lifestyle especially considering security costs, but I imagine that they have done and will continue to invest wisely and I’m sure Netflix will re-up, not to mention a future Spare II…They will definitely be fine! No wonder they couldn’t give a toss about the VF article 🙂
And not for the brf either. I hope that line of propaganda will stop now: about Harry wanting nothing more than to come back to the fold and be a divorced scapegoat forever.
I believe, IIRC, Harry said every penny he makes from a settlement will go to his charities. The only thing HE wanted is the public acknowledgment and public apologies. He is paid in full on those scores.
@Jan90067, lol what? Where did he say that? Harry isn’t billionaire King of UK. His family needs security, he won’t give every penny to the charities. His charities are fine, it is the UK charities supported by BRF that are closing down.
15 million sounds like a lot of money but I’ve read that their security alone is 3 million a year. I know they will invest it and it will grow but they will still need to work.
In 2021 he gave settlement money to Invictus but I don’t know he’s ever said any monies from lawsuits would absolutely be donated.
https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1103744/prince-harry-donation-to-invictus-games
I have no idea what British settlements look like, only American settlements so I would guess somewhere between 25 to 50 million? And the covering of his legal fees which probably is another 10 to 15 million? Either way this is probably the end of the, “How will the Sussexes pay for their security?!!” articles for a minute. If they invest this money right away, they probably are just increasing their nest egg. I’m sure they have a legal fund that they add to specifically.
I just read a People Magazine story that said it’s at least $12 million
An ‘eight figure sum’ was mentioned so at least ten million pounds. That is probably just the agreed damages with legal costs also being paid . I”m guessing between ten and 20 million each for Harry and Tom Watson, plus their full legal costs. NGN reportedly had already spent 15 million on their own legal costs for this case alone and payouts to other claimants are estimated at around a billion.
Harry still has his ongoing case against the Mail.
I’m sticking with the north of 50 million figure, not least because Harry’s case against the Daily Mail is still open, and probably wanted to set a high number as precedent….
As for the latter, hope Lord Rothemere is greasing up his kneepads, because Harry the Warrior isn’t done painting targets!
Settlements in Canada tend to be much, much lower than in the US. It may be the same in the UK.
I think its well north of 12 million (I mean if People says it “likely exceeded 12 million” that means anything from 12.1 million to 99 million, right, lol) – Hugh Grant got 10 million and I have to think that they offered Harry a lot more than that. Maybe not 50 million, but I would be surprised if it was less than 20 million (but I’m thinking in USD, not pounds.)
@F.Farrell a few people have mentioned settlements in the US, and as an attorney married to an attorney, I’ll say that US settlements typically aren’t as big as the headlines would have you believe. And even a lot of the really big headline-grabbing ones are usually reduced on appeal.
The public apology has significant non-monetary value to Harry, though. The money is important, but the apology to his mother was more so. So, I could see Harry trading down money for the public acknowledgement he received.
NGN might’ve been, “Hey, $40 million, no apology.” And Harry came back with, “Nah, $15 million and the apology.” NGN had to decide whether the apology was worth it, and eventually they did.
@Becks1 Thanks for your comment and correction. It’s true that most of us only see the headlines…
@Brit … In my humble opinion, I’m thinking Prince Harry and Tom Watson both got a settlement of £80 – 90 million. I base this on the fact of multiple settlement offers, with each new offer undoubtedly increasing in monetary value.
The Daily Mail is now waiting in the legal wings, the last on Harry’s bucket list. They must be so stunned by the NGN settlement and apology. 🙂
Once Hugh Grant put his payout at 10 million, there was no way NGN could offer Harry less. And the longer he held out, the closer it got to the trial date, the greater the offer would need to be. So 12 million sounds a bit low, but I have no idea how high is high. My brain can’t compute numbers that big
@jan
They said no such thing. When Harry won his last lawsuit, he clearly indicated how much would go to Sentebale and I think one other charity, but not once did he say he would donate every penny.
90 million pounds is the amount I believe he settled for, so the rota can stop worrying they will be broke when the Netflix contract expires.
Yes! It is long past time to hold the Murdoch people accountable. All of them. Kudos to Harry and Tom Watson. Now we need the British government to step up and open a criminal investigation into this cover up which apparently includes lying to parliament. I’m a bit envious of you Brits this morning. You still have hopes for your democracy. Here in America, ours is circling the drain.
This tweet, from Tom Watson’s thread, is powerful:
“I once said that the big beasts of the tabloid jungle have no predators. I was wrong. They have Prince Harry. His bravery and astonishing courage have brought accountability to a part of the media that thought it was untouchable”
https://x.com/tom_watson/status/1882028885405245827
Good for TW and Harry to be able to start processing this whole series of events, even if it will take them a lot of time to heal until they will finally be able to put this ordeal behind them.
Meanwhile Harry and David Sherborne must now start to prepare for the ANL court case.
Oh dear calling Harry a ” predator” to the tabloid jungle beast is a wrong analogy. He is the warrior fighting for truth and justice. He is David to their Goliath.
The statement seems to be a callback to something he had said in the past. It is probably a phrase that is identified with Watson. The callback wouldn’t work if he called Prince Harry something else.
Not to advocate for predators but they serve an important function in nature. They keep the population of their prey at a sustainable level that allow the survivors to thrive when nature works as it should. Without predators the prey population over populates and causes damage to their habitat in ways that destroy the balance. (Not a nature girl. I read it in a book somewhere.)
I bet the last-minute settlement negotiations, which likely ran all night, had to do not with the money but with the wording of the apology. NGN’s statement (available at the BBC Live news feed) makes it clear that Murdoch was far more concerned with defending in open court allegations of obstruction of justice and a coverup by NGN execs still at the company as well as those who have left (eg Will Lewis). The phone hacking can be considered as “past behaviour” but the obstruction of justice allegations are far more serious. That’s what Murdoch was trying to protect IMO…
and I would think Harry also refused an NDA, not just out of principle but because he still has the Daily Mail and RAVEC suits ongoing where he may need to use that evidence, not to mention any future Spare Part II, Levenson 2 or other future lawsuits
Speaking of Will Lewis, here’a link to an NPR article: Will Lewis’ first year at ‘Washington Post’: Cancellations, red ink and an exodus.
https://www.npr.org/2025/01/15/nx-s1-5258221/washington-post-will-lewis-jeff-bezos-year-one
The problem here is people like us value a good, trustworthy free press.
Jeff Bezos doesn’t. Will Lewis doesn’t.
Bezos and Lewis just want to make a lot of money and in this case, Bezos just need to make one person, aka the big Cheetos, happy. And Will Lewis needs to make Bezos happy. It’s quite a trainwreck of ultimate brown nosers.
I wonder if NGN’s surrender will undermine the Daily Mail’s resolve.
It is also lovely that Prince Harry proved is father (who said taking on the tabloids was a fool’s errand) wrong.
For sure Lord Rothemere doesn’t have the same resources as Murdoch for a “massive” settlement, although there’s nothing to say Murdoch won’t funnel him money for defense out of spite for losing to Harry.
Who knows? There’s also ex-PM Gordon Brown in the mix, not to mention the Royal Family so there is likely to be high level politicking going on that we will never know about. Charles’ saying to Harry that going after the tabloids was a fool’s errand was probably 50% Charles the forever Eeoyre complaining he is a victim and 50% trying to warn Harry off to protect the Firm…
I wish the general public understood the connection between this and HM recent and ongoing media abuse.
Also via Tom Watson:
‘I once said that the big beasts of the tabloid jungle have no predators. I was wrong. They have Prince Harry. His bravery and astonishing courage have brought accountability to a part of the media that thought it was untouchable.’
I’m SO proud of Harry and that he got an apology for him AND his mothet. Amazing!
Yay to the win. Cherish the bit of good news.
Sadly for the rest of the world, particularly the US, Murdoch’s acolytes have moved across the pond to far richer grounds (e.g. Will Lewis thriving at WAPO).
Murdoch inspired his fellow billionaires to follow in his footsteps and surpass him in their greed and viciousness to harm anyone in their way. After all, corrupt heads of state need their propaganda masters. These billionaires, soon to be trillionaires (Musk), aren’t satisfied with controlling governments, they want the world.
Not sure he’s “thriving”. WaPo is hemorrhaging subscribers.
The Post isn’t thriving. But Will Lewis definitely is.
The Post is chump change to Bezos. If the Post turning into Fox propaganda “news” sends billions of government contracts and saves Bezos from paying taxes, then it’s a totally worthwhile ROI.
Bezos doesn’t need Post’s readers. He just needs the attention of one.
@Kit – the Post isn’t FOX. It’s just a newspaper and MAGAs aren’t going to suddenly start reading the Washington Post. But regarding Will Lewis, the only thing he can offer Bezos is bad publicity, from the way he’s handling things at the Post and from possible investigations in the UK. It’s Lewis who is chump change to Bezos. There are other right leaning people out there Bezos can consider that aren’t carrying baggage.
I was early to exit. Loathsome criminal.
@Eurydice, the point is Bezos doesn’t care about the Post as far as subscribers or financial gains. The Post just needs to become another Fox, a good Trump propagandist.
But Bezos care deeply about Trump and what he can do for Bezos as in billions in government contracts, reducing government regulations and his taxes, etc.
Bezos’ Amazon paid $40 million for a documentary about Melania. Think about that.
People need to stop being so naive.
Good King Harry!!
I don’t even have words.
Now can Murdoch call off the campaign against Meghan which is quite lurid now. And an apology to her and to Harry
But Murdoch gotta make up for the payout. And you know inciting riot, hate, and blood on the streets are pure clickbait gold.
These billionaires will happily trot out the guillotine and firing squads to keep their MAGA/wanna be Nazi/fake Roman centurian base happy.
I’m so proud of Prince Harry and his courage, although buried under an avalanche of bad press he persevered ❤️
It shows Harry as smart, skillful, and a great negotiator. Watch and learn William.
THIS is how I expect a Prince of a 1,000 yr monarchy to behave. Slaying dragons and pursing justice on behalf of his subjects. Congratulations to Prince HArry. He fought the good fight and won.
They say red heads ‘have a temper’, are stubborn, and have a higher threshold for pain. Well, it seems at least one is strategic and patient.
Second best news, Prince Harry won without having to step foot back on that island.
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/study-finds-link-between-red-hair-pain-threshold
Exactly! Just realized it and wanted to comment that. I am happy how it worked out for Harry. He does all the right things.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/ has REMOVED its ROYALS tab from the banner altogether… and a search for Meghan returns virtually nothing – and most of it positive. I’d say he got a fair lot more in that settlement than just money!!
Well that is news. Hooray 🎉 🎈
So interesting that the entire royals tab has been removed. Like it’s not just H&M who are off limits, but the entire RF. I wonder what this will mean for deranged comments.
👀 if it’s long term, this is great!
This is a fantastic development.
Harry might not have completely slayed a dragon, but he hobbled it.
The Royals tab is under the “More” heading. It’s still there, but you have to dig for it. Surprised to find nothing about Meghan on the first page. Didn’t want to give them any more clicks beyond that.
Who exactly is Tom Watson? What lies did NGN print about him?
Enough lies and harassment for a “substantial” settlement.
If you are truly curious, try typing his name on your favorite search engine. Or go to the links this site provided.
I want to see that smug Piers Morgan and Rebbeca Brooks charged with perjury. Because all this illegal activity happened on their watch. They sat straight faced and lied to the Levison inquiry. So now is the time Piers to pay for your sins.
Good on Harry and Tom. And Murdoch can drop dead. He’s certainly old enough to–and he wouldn’t be missed.
Harry is standing for what is RIGHT and the legacy of beloved Diana.
William has sued for a large amount and very very wealthy but no one talks about that .
Harry has been cut off by Charles and refuses Harry security for his family security which is a disgrace. .so Harry has to pay for his own security .
That’s why you never see pictures of his children..its very sad .
Harry is brave and can survive on his own ..he has his mother’s spirit and speaks the truth !
Well done Harry – you got them to admit what they did, apologies for it and then get them to pay all our fees as well as a nice payout for your charities.
Its VERY telling the Fail isn’t covering this story – or did for a moment and then took it off the front page. They are next!! Rothermere is wealthy but does NOT have the money the Murdoch’s do.
Now its up to the Met police and Starmer – do the right thing and order another public enquiry into this as the first one was a ‘for show’ disaster. Brookes and the rest of them need to be prosecuted for perjury.
The Other Brother must be spitting nails as both the apology and the money Harry is getting, Am not gonna judge him (and Watson) for settling, the court case would have just been about them not turning up to court and committing more perjury – and am betting that this behaviour is still going on.
He said from the get go he wants accountability and an apology.
12m wouldn’t be much because that would be legal costs so far
Had he won he would have been on the hook for NGN legal costs as well another 15m
The only amount that makes sense is btwn 30m to 50m
10m is 3 years of security with little traveling
2025 they have a lot to do with Invictus around the corner
It would really be interesting to see how much Harry was happy with.
The apology would easily make the 12m acceptable I suppose
Good King Harry!!
Meghan was so right when she told her husband Harry, Diana son that he was no spare , he is a MAN