The start of the legal battle between Prince Harry and “Murdoch Media”

Yesterday, the Supreme Court in London began examining the lawsuit filed by Prince Harry against a British newspaper publishing group owned by the media mogul, Rupert Murdoch, as the prince seeks a ruling that senior figures were aware of widespread violations and covered up the matter.

Harry, along with former MP Tom Watson, is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), accusing it of committing illegal activities carried out by journalists and private investigators who worked for its newspapers, The Sun and News of the World, between 1996 and 2011, when the Duke of Sussex accused the institution of illegally spying on his personal life.

The prince says that he is not after money, but rather to reach the truth, after other plaintiffs reached settlements in similar cases to avoid paying millions of pounds in legal fees that may be imposed on them even if they win in court, while rejecting the settlement offer from “NGN.”

Harry said last month: “One of the main reasons to push this matter to the end is accountability, because I am effectively the last person who can achieve this,” and the prince is scheduled to testify in person next February.

NGN has paid hundreds of millions of pounds to victims of phone hacking and other illegal information gathering operations carried out by the News of the World, and has settled more than 1,300 lawsuits brought by plaintiffs including celebrities, politicians and well-known sports figures. And ordinary people.

Harry’s legal team said in previous court documents that his older brother, Prince William, heir to the throne, settled his case against NGN in 2020 for a “very large sum of money.”

Murdoch closed the News of the World in 2011, but has always denied any illegal activity at The Sun and said he would fight the accusations.

During the eight-week trial, Harry’s legal team will accuse senior executives and editors of being aware of the widespread illegal conduct, misleading police and making false statements in a public media ethics inquiry conducted in 2011 and 2012, and instigating a massive cover-up that included… Delete millions of emails.

An NGN spokesman said that the corporation “will call a number of witnesses, including technical experts, lawyers and senior employees, to refute this allegation.”

In addition to Harry, there are other witnesses scheduled to be called, or have already given evidence for the benefit of the plaintiffs, such as former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, actor Hugh Grant, actress Sienna Miller, singer Lily Allen, and former model Heather Mills.