Prince Harry wins latest High Court legal round against The Sun publisher

Prince Harry has won the latest round of his phone hacking case against the publisher of The Sun.

It was ruled today (19 April) that the trial will not be delayed after the publisher, News Group Newspapers, tried to argue that the case was launched outside a legal time limit.

The Duke of Sussex, 39, alongside other celebrities like Hugh Grant, claims that the News Group Newspapers (NGN) publication used a range of illegal methods including phone hacking, blagging information and private investigators to gather information.

Providing that those affected, including the duke, do not settle out of court, the full criminal trial will go ahead in January 2025. The publisher maintains its stance that The Sun is innocent of any wrongdoing.

Mr Justice Fancourt today, in a preliminary trial, dismissed the publisher’s request for an investigation into the timing of the claims, describing it as a “plainly considerable risk” that it would be “increasing costs overall and potentially delaying” a full trial by as long as two years.

The news comes after Hugh Grant settled with the publisher out of court “for an enormous sum of money” but admitted that he would have loved “to see all the allegations that they deny tested in court”.

Grant made this decision because he was not prepared to risk being liable for legal fees that could have amounted to £10m. He explained that “the rules around civil litigation mean that if I proceed to trial and the court awards me damages that are even a penny less than the settlement offer, I would have to pay the legal costs of both sides.

“My lawyers tell me that is exactly what would most likely happen here. Rupert Murdoch’s lawyers are very expensive. So even if every allegation is proven in court, I would still be liable for something approaching £10m in costs. I’m afraid I am shying at that fence.”

The publisher has asserted that some of the recent claims made are historic but does admit liability for the actions of journalists at the now-defunct News of the World.

A spokesperson for NGN said earlier this week: “In 2011, an unreserved apology was made by NGN to victims of voicemail interception by the News of the World. Since then, NGN has been paying financial damages to those with proper claims.

“As we reach the tail end of litigation, NGN is drawing a line under disputed matters, some of which date back more than 20 years ago. In some cases, it has made commercial sense for both parties to come to a settlement agreement before trial to bring a resolution to the matter.

“There are a number of disputed claims still going through the civil courts, some of which seek to involve The Sun. The Sun does not accept liability or make any admissions to the allegations.

“A judge recently ruled that parts of Mr Grant’s claim were out of time and we have reached an agreement to settle the remainder of the case. This has been done without admission of liability. It is in both parties’ financial interests not to progress to a costly trial.”

Grant took the opportunity this week to state that it is “common with entirely innocent people” to pay “an enormous sum of money to keep [a] matter out of court”.

Prince Harry previously said it was his “life’s work” to change the “media landscape” in the UK after the press was blamed for the high-speed car chase that led to his mother’s untimely death in 1997.