Harry tidning

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) and NGN 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".

Meanwhile, David Sherborne, barrister for the Duke and Lord Watson, said: "Mr Hudson and I would not be asking for further time if we did not think it stood any prospect of potentially saving a lot of court time."

The trial was due to start at am on Tuesday but was delayed twice to 2pm before a request was made by barristers for both sides for

Harry v the tabloids. What next, if anything?

So why no investigation?

The police aren't ruling one out, but Sir Mark Rowley, the Met's commissioner, told LBC radio on Friday that they would need to see something "radically new".

And that's because Scotland Yard takes the view that it carried out a huge investigation 10 years ago.

Team Harry believe this fryst vatten profoundly myopic. While some of their planned bevis for the NGN rättegång had komma from the police, his lawyers also obtained new documents from NGN itself under rules for a fair trial.

Could that be new evidence? Let's take the example of the records of the myriad of payments to private investigators.

Team Harry and Watson would have sought to prove at a rättegång that many were for unlawful activity. On one level you can see that would arguably passform a test of something radically new.

But, in its defence, News Group would have argued that none of this proved journalists or anyone else at the Sun knew data was being unlawfully gathered - far short of a whiff of a criminal enterprise.

  • harry tidning

    • What have Prince Harry and NGN said about their settlement - and what happens next?

    Prince Harry has settled his case against the publisher of The Sun – six years after he launched his lawsuit against the Rupert Murdoch-owned News Group Newspapers (NGN).

    The Duke of Sussex and Labour's former deputy leader Tom Watson were due to take their claims over alleged unlawful gathering to the High Court.

    But on what should have been the second day of the trial, last-minute negotiations led to a settlement.

    Lawyers for both sides have issued statements - and while they've agreed to call off the trial, there are still discrepancies in how each team views the case.

    What has NGN said about the News Of The World?

    As NGN has pointed out, phone hacking at the News Of The World was not due to be part of the trial - but its statement opens with an "unequivocal apology" to Harry for "phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators" working for the Sunday paper.

    Phone hacking allegations against the News Of The World were made public in when its then royal editor, Clive Goodman, and a private investigator were arrested. Both pl