Amid confusion over last-minute settlement talks between the two parties, Prince Harry’s legal battle against Rupert Murdoch’s British media business was postponed before London’s High Court on Tuesday.
News Group Newspapers is being sued by Harry and former senior legislator Tom Watson for allegedly engaging in illegal activities by journalists and private detectives who worked for the Sun and the now-defunct News of the World between 1996 and 2011.
David Sherborne, the attorney representing Harry and Watson, requested additional time from Timothy Fancourt, the judge, at the beginning of what was scheduled to be an eight-week trial.
Sherborne stated without further explanation, “I’m sure your lordship can understand why that might be needed.”
Sherborne requested more time to continue the conversation after an hour-long wait. Fancourt agreed to the request, but stated that it had to be the final adjournment and that if no compromise was reached, the afternoon session would begin.
Sherborne then requested more time to negotiate, which NGN’s attorney Anthony Hudson backed up by pointing to time difference issues—possibly referring to Harry, who resides in California.
In response to Fancourt’s statement that he did not believe the court papers included anything that would affect attempts to reach a settlement, Hudson stated that additional issues that will arise after the trial begins will significantly affect the settlement dynamic.
Fancourt indicated that some of the attorneys from both sides might continue to talk about a potential agreement while the trial started, but he rejected to give the parties extra time.
Fancourt said, “I’m not going to start having secret hearings about what’s going on,” in response to Hudson’s request for a brief private chat.
Although the parties may file an appeal directly with the Court of Appeal, the judge also denied permission to appeal.
After other claimants settled their lawsuits to avoid the possibility of a multi-million dollar legal bill that may be imposed even if they won in court but had turned down NGN’s offer, the prince stated that his goal is not money but to uncover the truth.
Harry, who is scheduled to testify as a witness himself in February, stated last month that accountability is one of the primary motivations for seeing this through because he is the last person who can truly accomplish that.
In addition to settling more than 1,300 lawsuits involving politicians, well-known athletes, celebrities, and regular people who were connected to them or significant events, NGN has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to victims of phone hacking and other illegal information gathering by the News of the World.
In prior court filings, Harry’s legal team stated that his elder brother, Prince William, the heir apparent, had reached a very high settlement with NGN in 2020.
The publisher has consistently denied allegations of illegal behavior at the Sun and has stated that it will vigorously defend the allegations, even after Murdoch shut down the News of the World in 2011.
At the beginning of the eight-week trial, general questions like the scope of any phone hacking and illegal information gathering at the papers will be examined.
Senior executives and editors, according to Harry’s team, understood that illegal activity was rampant. They also allegedly lied to police, made false statements to a public investigation into media ethics that took place between 2011 and 2012, and orchestrated a vast cover-up by deleting millions of emails.
According to an NGN spokeswoman, this accusation is false, unsupportable, and categorically refuted. To refute the claim, NGN will bring a number of witnesses, including senior officials, lawyers, and technicians.