Prince William Secretly Settled With Tabloid The Sun, While Brother Harry Goes to Court

British Crown Prince William has been given “a huge sum of money” by the owners of the tabloid The Sun to settle a phone hacking case. British media report this. His brother Prince Harry filed a lawsuit against the newsgroup, which will be heard this week.

In the United Kingdom, a three-day trial that the British Prince Harry has brought against News Group Newspapers (NGN) is currently starting. He accuses the publishing house, including the tabloid The Sun, of phone hacking and obtaining private information about him through deceit, including obtaining his wife Meghan Markle’s social security number. It would concern facts that started in the mid-1990s and lasted until 2016.

The documents that the prince submitted to the court for this now show that his brother, Crown Prince William, made a deal with NGN in 2020 to settle a similar case. He would have received “a considerable sum of money” for this.

To properly understand what is going on here, it is essential to know that, according to Harry, a deal has already been made between Buckingham Palace and the newsgroup in the past. The princes would postpone their legal action in exchange for an apology from NGN at a later date.

That deal was made years ago with the famous Tampongate in mind. That scandal made headlines in 1993 after a “sexy” phone call from 1989 between then Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles was leaked. At the time, Charles was still married to Princess Diana and Camilla to Andrew Parker Bowles. During that phone call, Charles let slip that he would rather live in Camilla’s pants if luck were on his side, like a tampon. An incident that the royal family was very bored with.

According to the prince, the deal between Buckingham Palace and NGN was made because it was essential to the palace that a member of the royal family would not have to sit on the witness stand and tell the specific details of the intercepted private voicemails.

In 2017, Harry would have tried to get that delayed apology from NGN. But NGN wouldn’t have kept their side of the deal. And that’s why Harry is taking them to court. According to the prince, the former Queen Elizabeth knew his intention to take the matter to court and received her approval.

NGN has admitted to phone hacking within the company but has always maintained that nothing wrong happened at The Sun. A spokesperson for the company said that “The Sun accepts no liability and does not admit to the allegations”, highlighting that many of Harry’s claims date back 20 years. According to NGN, Prince Harry is too late with his claim.