Harry v. NGN

[Atlasvue]

Starting a thread for Tuesday.
This BBC article covers the basics. This is the last line ….
’Tuesday really is the beginning of the end. And someone is going to lose - and lose big.’

I have a feeling, that Harry won’t win but he just wants to use the public setting to air his grievances. A therapy session would have worked out much cheaper.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2l00xkgwnyo

It's very unusual to not pay costs as part of a settlement (speaking as a litigation solicitor). However it doesn't mean all costs will have been paid. Given the extent of the apology I'd take a guess that they have all been paid but we won't ever know assuming the settlement agreement stays confidential.

Oh I forgot that an apology from murdoch would equate to a failure for Harry. Had he run it to trial, he'd have been wrong there too.

I quite agree that Harry and Tom Watson (and other victims) should get financial compensation. What the tabloids did was disgusting and appalling.

No-one disagrees with that. Also, where criminal activities can be proved, that should go to a criminal trial.

What people have been commenting on is Harry's claims that it isn't about money, he won't be 'bought off', this is about 'accountability' - when the civil court is about compensation!

In order to get the costs protection of a Part 36 offer they might reasonably have offered around £300,000 (based on the highest amounts of damages paid out for press intrusion cases in the past - probably add on a bit more to be sure that their offer isn't marginally beaten at trial).

But that offer will have been made ages ago. A new offer that is enough to tempt the dragon-slayer on 5e edge of trial would certainly have to cover his legal fees and more, so comfortably in the millions.

Sounds like the settlement was hashed out over the phone between London and California, though, so with any luck and a bit of phone hacking a tabloid will get the full scoop!

Didn't Harry criticise William for settling?

But there is always a litigation risk that every party to litigation has to take into consideration.

It is so predicable that this is being painted as a bad move from Harry and some sort of win by Murdoch. Ridiculous.

I suspect a combination of an increased offer, plus Harry finally clicking that the money won't be flowing in from e.g. Maghan's new show!

Settlements literally on the court steps are when each party has focused their mind, (hopefully) got past the emotions which may have been driving them previously, and become a bit more clear sighted, and hard-nosed about what they stand to win or lose.

Harry’s lawyer is doing a lot of posturing, as you’d expect. He always does. As the Cposted on its site though:

As a reminder, Harry previously said he wasn't willing to settle and wanted to test the claims in court.
Now, a source tells BBC News that NGN - the publishers of The Sun - were "surprised by the serious approach by Prince Harry for settlement in recent days".

They want to give the impression he blinked first. Obviously Harry will want to give the exact opposite impression. Sadly, we will never know the truth! But given Harry’s past statements, it’s far more surprising that he settled rather than NGN do - we all know they were happy to settle this.

I really hope Prince Harry and Lord Watson are belting out "who's afraid of little old me" in celebration. Honestly that song puts me in mind of Diana. I was wondering how Prince William felt hearing it at TS Wembley gig.

absolute gutter press. I used to try and campaign for privacy rights. I gave up!

I'm so glad that people out there have the cajones to carry on with it. Well done all.

Most settlements are kept confidential and do not involve any admission of liability. Getting an admission of guilt, an apology and acknowledgement of damage caused is unheard of and a huge win for a litigant. I bet my house he wouldn’t agree to settle without it.

I don’t care what you think of Prince Harry, he is absolutely right to take them on as he has been doing.

Can NGN really have offered him so much money as a new settlement that he would go through the public ridicule of backing down on this fight?

I wonder how much the public ridicule he'll rightly get matters to him now @Dolma, especially when his background militates against him caring at all what the "little people" might feel?

As we've seen time and again, what the empty vessel of Harry pretends to be changes like the wind, with us all expected to accept the latest claim as his truth, but on the whole it doesn't work any more and his credibility's gone

I suppose all that's left is his luxury lifestyle/family, and good luck with that because he'll certainly need it

I agree with all of this.

But Prince Harry castigated his brother for settling and basically said his silence could not be bought.

But apparently it can

I wonder if the Vanity Fair article helped to tip the balance. I respect Harry for trying to fight the press, the way they behaved in the past was beyond disgraceful but I also think by fighting, you run the risk of them waiting in the long grass for you and your loved ones.

@Alarmclockstop Did William start proceedings? Did he set out the allegations which were reported on by the media for months? Or did he just write private letter and then accept whatever money they offered him. The two are not comparable.

Tom Watson's thread on Twitter is a great read. Not for those who believe Harry sold out of course.

Who is painting it in those terms? The entire discussion has been about litigation risk and the sense in settlement before the brink of a lengthy trial. Nobody thinks this is a Murdoch "win". It's just not the type of "winning" that Harry was after, which was the public exposure and accountability of the very top echelons of the papers involved, costs be damned.

It is so predicable that this is being painted as a bad move from Harry and some sort of win by Murdoch. Ridiculous.

Funnily enough I am pleased that Harry and Tom Watson have got compensation - everyone who was subject to this disgraceful treatment deserves compensation. But they could have received that several years ago, with far less financial outlay and far less emotional cost.

This is historic misconduct that has already been the subject of several criminal trials, several prosecutions, the closing of a newspaper and the complete change of practice by the press. That is the good outcome that should follow the misconduct. The criminal law is about deterrence not vengeance, and I think you can point to what has already happened and demonstrate that deterrence has been achieved. Not every criminal prosecution was successful, but that happens. Civil litigation should not be issued as a tool of vengeance, as that is an abuse of its process. It exists to solve genuine disputes between people that can be put right with monetary awards.

Harry’s claim clearly falls into this category as his claim been put right to his satisfaction with compensation and a public apology. That could have happened 4 years ago, as I said. I cannot see why it is in the public interest for scarce resources now to applied to further acts of vengeance against misconduct that took place more than 15 years ago now, and against people some of whom have already been through criminal trials for this. It won’t change behaviours, as that behaviour has already changed. So what is the good purpose for this public expenditure? I think that the police, CPS and courts have far more important priorities currently than this.

Yes he once again proves it is one rule for him and another for everyone else.

It is a win for Murdoch in a way. Most settlements suit both parties. Thats why they happen. It’s only stupid people like R Vardy that keep going and defend the indefensible. Look at her costs and that was small fry.

These were the last two who hadn’t settled. That’s the end of the possible cases. Plus Harry had some elements of his case ruled out of time. It’s not possible to fund his court case if he lost and this is why he settled. It’s widely reported that if he had lost, he might be in up to £10m. I would guess the settlement nears this sum. What others have got might not be relevant - except for William. It’s all such a giant waste of time but I guess the settlement got higher with brinkmanship and the apology more fulsome. So Harry can say he was right to continue but Murdoch have now seen off claimants.,

Apologies if this has been discussed already, but will H's legal costs be covered as part of the settlement.

You used to campaign for privacy rights? Eh?

Getting an admission of guilt, an apology and acknowledgement of damage caused is unheard of and a huge win for a litigant

Actually, apologies and limited acceptance of doing something wrong is incredibly common, Particularly when it’s an admission of only some, previously accepted, guilt, as is the case here!

The apology only really covers what has already been exposed by Levenson.

It does not cover the things we were led to believe Harry was actually after - admission that Sun journalists were directly involved, or that editors and owners were aware.

Totally
But a few things I have mused

1. HOPEFULLY this apology will stop his constantly going on like the press were as awful now, to Meghan, as they were with his mum - that's no longer true

What he won't see is that when the press diss Meghan now it's because of HER actions.... and his

1. MM and PH are both going down the toilet, they've had a dreadful year and people won't be asking them to do anything, had he, with his dreadfully shit 'evidence' it's highly unlikely they'd have won and Harry would have lost - and Harry would have to pay a tonne of money.
2. Even if he did win, it's still likely he'd have to pay a tonne of money
3. Let's face it, he'd have gone to daddy anyway, so would be more public hate that the public purse would have paid for his indulgences in court ... especially considering he couldn't even be arsed to turn up, both this week or back in 2023