Prince Harry's Lawyers Claim Prince William Received a 'Very Large …
The Duke of Sussex's legal team stated that he "had enough" with a "secret arrangement" in place with News Group Newspapers -- and Queen Elizabeth gave him permission to pursue the case
Daniel Leavl-Olivas-Pool Getty Images; Chris Jackson/Getty Images Prince William (L); Prince Harry
Prince Harry's lawyers say that his brother Prince William quietly received a "very large sum of money" in a settlement from News Group Newspapers (NGN) in 2020. The claim came to light in the High Court of Justice in London on Tuesday as part of a three-day hearing that will determine whether the Duke of Sussex's suit against the publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World goes to trial, Sky News reported. As seen in a witness statement obtained by PEOPLE, Prince Harry is suing NGN over unlawful information gathering from "as early as 1994 until at least 2016." The Duke of Sussex's legal team claims that he was a victim of phone voicemail hacking and that private investigators were tapped to illegally gather information on his life.
According to Prince Harry's claim, NGN had a "secret agreement" in place with the royal family which meant that he could not bring a claim against the publisher forward. The documents state that the Duke of Sussex was informed of the arrangement in 2012. Related:Prince Harry Blasts Palace, Says They 'Without Doubt' Withheld Information from Him on Phone Hacking
Chris Jackson/Getty Images Prince William and Prince Harry
"It was agreed directly between these parties (as opposed to their lawyers, as the correspondence so far provided by NGN demonstrates) that at the conclusion of the Mobile Telephone Voicemail Interception Litigation ("MTVIL"), News would admit or settle such a claim with an apology," the papers state, adding that Prince Harry received permission from his grandmother Queen Elizabeth to pursue a resolution against NGN in 2017.
"In 2017, the Claimant and the Institution began to push for the outstanding claim to be resolved. However, News filibustered in relation to this until, in 2019, the Claimant had enough and issued his claim," according to the documents. Now, Prince Harry's lawyers raise that his older brother William, 41, "similarly brought a claim against NGN which it settled for a very large sum of money in 2020 without bringing any strike out/summary judgment application on limitation...
The settlement of his brother's claim once more supports the contention that there was a Secret Agreement in place." It remains unclear how much Prince William allegedly settled for, and the documents do not disclose what it was related to, the BBC reported.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Prince William
In a March witness statement, Prince Harry said the secret agreement was in place in order for the royal family to keep issues with NGN private. "The rationale behind this was that a secret agreement had been reached between the institution and senior executives at NGN whereby members of the Royal Family would bring phone hacking claims only at the conclusion of the Mobile Telephone Voicemail Interception Litigation and at that stage the claims would be admitted or settled with an apology," he said. "The reason for this was to avoid the situation where a member of the Royal Family would have to sit in the witness box and recount the specific details of the private and highly sensitive voicemails that had been intercepted by Clive Goodman [former reporter for News of the World].
"The institution was incredibly nervous about this and wanted to avoid at all costs the sort of reputational damage that it had suffered in 1993 when The Sun and another tabloid had unlawfully obtained and published details of an intimate telephone conversation that took place between my father and step-mother in 1989, while he was still married to my mother," Harry said, referencing intercepted calls between King Charles and Queen Camilla during his marriage to Princess Diana.
DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Prince Harry
Related:Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Share a Cute Kiss Cam Moment at Los Angeles Lakers Game! Sky News reports that the High Court hearing is expected to last three days, after which a judge will determine whether the claims move forward to a trial, which would be heard in January 2024. Prince Harry is currently involved in litigation against two other publishing hubs for illegal information gathering.
In March, he made a surprise appearance at London's High Court, attending three out of four days of hearings that will determine whether his lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, goes to trial. Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more! He is also one of several high-profile figures bringing damages claims against Mirror Group Newspapers, home to Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Daily Express.
The trial is set to begin on May 9, just three days after his father King Charles' coronation. According to the Associated Press, Prince Harry won't be seen in court immediately, as he's expected to testify in June. For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
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