Prince William Made Secret Settlement with Murdoch Firm

Facts

• In documents submitted to the UK's High Court on Tuesday, Prince Harry claimed that his brother Prince William was paid a "very large sum" by News Group Newspapers (NGN) — the owners of the Sun and the now-closed News of the World — to settle phone-hacking claims.¹
• Harry alleges William received the money in 2020 after bringing a legal claim against NGN, adding that the late Queen was involved in "discussions and [the] authorization" of a "secret agreement" not to pursue claims against the Sun's owners until the conclusion of the phone-hacking cases.²
• The secret agreement to settle phone-hacking claims outside of court was struck in 2012, though Harry argues it hasn't been honored by NGN — the company denies the allegations of unlawful activity at the Sun and claims it's now too late for the Duke of Sussex to bring forward such legal cases.³
• The filings state that the agreement was made to "avoid a situation" where a royal family member would have to sit in the witness box and recount highly sensitive details of voicemails intercepted by ex-News of the World reporter Clive Goodman.⁴
• Harry claims the royal family "wanted to avoid at all costs" the potential reputational damage caused by the public release of "intimate telephone conversation[s]" between his father, King Charles, and the now-Queen Consort Camilla, conducted when the monarch was still married to the late Princess Diana.⁵
• Harry, together with actor Hugh Grant, is suing NGN for alleged unlawful information gathering. The case relies on more than 200 news articles that the Prince claims are the product of hacking or unlawful activity by the publisher.⁶

Sources: ¹BBC News, ²Independent, ³Yahoo News, ⁴Guardian, ⁵Reuters, and ⁶Evening Standard.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Guardian. While the question of why Prince William needed to take any more money than he currently has must be asked, Prince Harry's allegations again highlight the royal family's toxic relationship with the UK's tabloid media. There is little use for one's reputation if it's held hostage by media empires, and Harry may just break the cycle of the royals' compliant relationship with the likes of Rupert Murdoch.
• Narrative B, as provided by Al Jazeera. Celebrities' complaints about their dirty laundry — or "highly sensitive private conversations" — being disclosed is ridiculous and shouldn't be taken seriously. Prince Harry is a multimillionaire who abandoned the duties that facilitated his status. Despite his attempts at "inner work" and "outer work," the Duke of Sussex has turned his life into a series of cash grabs — he must get a grip on his actions, or his reputation will continue to plummet into obscurity.

Predictions