As Prince Harry pursues legal action against News Group Newspapers (NGN), his attorneys are citing a “very large sum” that Prince William, his brother, got from the company in a 2020 settlement.
Harry is suing NGN at London’s High Court, alleging that voicemail hacking and other unlawful acts were committed on behalf of two of the company’s newspapers, The Sun and now-defunct News of the World.
Harry’s attorneys claimed in documents submitted to the court on Tuesday that William got “a very large sum of money” from NGN in 2020 to settle phone-hacking claims, per The Washington Post.
In a 31-page witness statement, Harry said that William reached a settlement with NGN “without any of the public being told, and seemingly with some favourable deal in return for him going ‘quietly’ so to speak,” per Reuters.
“This goes to prove the existence of this secret agreement between the institution and senior executives at NGN,” the Duke of Sussex added.
Harry also said, per the Post, that Buckingham Palace wanted to avoid royals giving evidence in court — and that the royals didn’t want to divulge “specific details of private and highly sensitive voicemails” in court.
Though it has already paid millions to settle more than a thousand phone-hacking claims, NGN is attempting to get both Harry’s claim and a similar one from Hugh Grant dismissed, contending that the two men waited too long to take legal action, according to Reuters.
But Harry’s legal team says that the secret deal between Buckingham Palace and NGN caused the delay.
“It is important to bear in mind that in responding to this bid by NGN to prevent his claims going to trial, the claimant has had to make public the details of this secret agreement, as well as the fact that his brother, His Royal Highness, Prince William, has recently settled his claim against NGN behind the scenes,” the legal team’s court filings read.