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

If so, surely it will all be funneled through Archewell.

Someone is trying very very hard to make it out that Harry hasn’t embarrassed himself by walking back on his claim that he wanted to have his day in court and settled for his legal fees paid for him.

I see.

In any case it's nice to see Harry following William's example. He should do it more often for his own good!

There was public unhappiness about other hacking such as hacking of communications between Charles and Diana

Now that really wasn’t a reason for Leveson! 🤣

Then you will know that the phone hacking scandal started with Prince William in 2005, when a private message between him and ITV's Tom Bradby appeared in the NOTW. The Palace reported this to the police as a potential security breach, which led to their royal editor, Clive Goodman, and a PI admitting to intercepting the voicemails of royal aides and being imprisoned in 2007. The NOTW claimed it had been a one off, but off the back of that criminal case against Goodman's hacking of the royal aides, the Guardian and (separately) the Met investigated Goodman's activities and the wider hacking culture at the NOTW. Off the back of those investigations, a number of parties sued the NOTW (and settled), resulting in the Met Police re-opening their enquiries under the Weeting Inquiry. That inquiry discovered widespread cases of hacking, including the Milly Dowler incident, and resulted in the Leveson Inquiry being ordered by David Cameron. If the palace/William had not reported the matter to the police, who knows whether the extent of the hacking would have been looked at or discovered at all.

Out of interest, will Harry have to pay taxes on his win in both the UK & the US? If he donates to Archewell, will that eliminate the taxes?

The Leveson Inquiry was set up to examine the ‘culture, practices and ethics of the press’ in the UK.
The trigger for the Inquiry was the revelation that News of the World reporters hacked the phone of 13-year-old murder victim Milly Dowler, and that case was examined closely in evidence. Phone hacking began in the late 1990s and the first arrest was made in 2007, but the matter was addressed mainly in general terms because criminal proceedings were under way.
Other events of the early 21st century to be examined included the McCann case and the data-theft operations referred to under the general heading of Operation Motorman. The Inquiry considered the actions of journalists and editors, and also of the Press Complaints Commission, the Information Commissioner, the police and the Crown Prosecution Service.
The Inquiry also examined the history of journalism regulation going back to the 1940s, including the record of the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) and of the Calcutt inquiries of 1990-1994. In its scrutiny of relations between politicians and the press, evidence was heard from four prime ministers and there was also discussion of Rupert Murdoch’s relations with Margaret Thatcher in the 1990s.
It was meant to be a two-stage inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005. Part 1 would inquire into ‘the culture, practices and ethics of the press’ and make recommendations for a new regulatory system. Part 2 would look closely at criminal conduct and would convene only when relevant criminal proceedings were complete (until then these matters would be sub judice and therefore could not be examined in a public inquiry forum).

And yes the first phone hacking case involved the Royal Family. But after that was investigated by the police and criminal prosecutions, a decision was made not to investigate phone hacking any further. Link to prove this.

Sorry link
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-28149267

It was other cases such as Millie and 7/7 that sparked such public outrage that the Leveson enquiry became inevitable.

"Of course Harry got a much bigger settlement. It was reported yesterday that he was offered at the last minute a massive settlement."

which one is it?

Oh, now you’re suddenly reading and quoting the introduction to Leveson. we see you. 🤣

Again from Lord Leveson’s report:

Given the pivotal role that Operation Caryatid [William’s complaint] has played in the background that has given rise to this Inquiry and the focus, in part, on criticisms of the MPS for what is perceived to be its failure properly to investigate what emerged from this investigation, it is necessary to set out precisely what happened in some detail, evaluating decisions that were made
as they were made and in the light of the prevailing circumstances. That is because I must address the allegation that the MPS deliberately held back on a full investigation (and further investigation in 2009 and 2010) because of a link with [News International].

There you go. Williams complaint was pivotal.

It depends on his citizenship status where taxes are due. The countries have reciprocal tax arrangements so you are not double taxed.
There are UK rules on damages awarded by courts. It varies depending on how the figure is arrived at.

@Serenster There was no further investigation after NGN settled the palace claim. None.
The Enquiry was not announced until 4 years later after Millie and 7/7
And there really is no need to be snarky to me.

There would have been no revelation of phone hacking existing at TNOTW or elsewhere, no subsequent enquiries or inquiries but for the initial BP alert to the police and criminal case against Goodman that followed. Do you understand that? Do you understand that, until that point in 2005, nobody scratching their heads about their private lives appearing in the papers was even thinking about phone hacking as a means of obtaining information?

Edit for clarity.

If that was the only phone hacking that happened, nothing else would have happened. NGN settled and there was no further investigations.

But it was not the only phone hacking and the worst examples were revealed to the public such as Millie and 7/7. That led to an enormous public outcry. It was in the news for weeks. Finally politicians announced in Parliament there would be a public enquiry.

I say again, I have posted the actual words of Lord Leveson from his report about how the Enquiry came about, and what issues were triggers, or pivotal. Posters are perfectly able to read those words and make up their own minds.

People can also read your general posting tone on this thread, and make up their own minds as to whether you have yourself perhaps been snarky.

@Serenster why all the personal insults? It is uncalled for.

The Royal Family phone hacking was the first settlement with NGN, of course it was going to be referenced. But after that settlement, there was no further enquiries. It was public outrage over Millie and 7/7 that led to politicians announcing the public enquiry in parliament.

Are you being deliberately obtuse? If William's complaint to the police had not revealed that hacking was a thing in existence, then what would have? Who would have figured it out? Because if nobody else joined up the dots back in 2005, then there would have been no subsequent enquiries to discover what happened with Milly Dowler's phone.

How did he prove his case? The trial would have had to run for that to happen.

Like most people, he settled for economic reasons, as did NGN.

That's the whole point of a settlement. Nobody proves anything or otherwise!

BBC news are saying it’s a win and positives for both sides as it’s been settled.

They do it day and daily, because of economic reasons - it's going to cost more to run than to settle, plus the risk of things emerging that neither party wants in the public domain.

My organisation does it all the time with employment tribunals! Same principle!

They are absolutely not saying that at all.

Once again you do not know that he received an eight figure settlement! These details are confidential.

This is what the bbc have said @WatchOutMissMarpleIsAbout

BBC

’They say he's been vindicated - but will there also, deep down, be some mixed feelings about not getting his day in court? Was this really "slaying dragons" of the tabloid press, as he'd celebrated after a previous win when he'd given evidence in court against Mirror Group Newspapers?
Why did Prince Harry strike a deal now?
It seems a change from Prince Harry being adamant that this was about "accountability".
"The goal is accountability. It's really that simple," Prince Harry told a media event in New York last month, about why he was taking on the Murdoch press.
"The scale of the cover up is so large that people need to see it for themselves," he said.
He was fully aware of the financial risks built into such civil disputes, but seemed determined to press on, not just for himself but for 1,300 claimants who he said had settled but had "no justice".
The bombshell case that was going to see Prince Harry giving evidence against his tabloid tormentors is over before it began. Who, in the end, will be more pleased about that?’’