Harry v NGN 2

[mainecooncatonahottinroof]

I don't think we're done talking - and I never start threads!

As you were!

I think you are right. The fact that H and M found out about Catherine’s cancer at the same time as the rest of the world told us all we need to know.

I think the problem with Harry is, that rather than being a trailblazer against the power of the press, he is an old fashioned spoilt and overpriviliged Royal, harking back to bygone days when he and people like him had a divine right to exist and do as they pleased and everyone else unquestionably did their bidding. Now, people still do their bidding, but they want something in return. The press don't really care about them. They will do the bidding of the Royals, but they want stories, gossip, good v evil narratives in return. Harry wanted all of his family to embark on some crusade against the press, but the rest of his family rely on the press not to make too much of a fuss about what they do, their wealth, their dodgy dealing and lobbying. In return they may have to throw out stories now and again but the only reason Harry has his privilege, and the only reason some of the more dodgy stories about Harry's youth are kept out of the press is because of this. Not because his family have a divine right to exist without having to hawk out their stately homes for weddings in order to pay the bills like their aristo mates have to do.

Harry also need the press and other media in order to try and make his millions. If they don’t stay in the news cycle with their endeavours, no one will know that they are doing. They have to court the press and other media as much as anyone else who wants to keep their name in the public domain

How much will he have to pay again when the security case is over? It was £1 million but with the appeal, that will be further costs…maybe £1.5 million?

He must approach his legal cases like a business…..balancing the cash flow.

Agreed. But he can only do that because he is a member of the Royal Family, but in order to keep the Royal family existing for as long as it has, without having to do nearly as much as other Royal Families have had to do, they need good relations with the press. He has benefitted from this as much as anyone else. He doesn't want to do that deal. He wants everyone to bow and scrape to him and his family simply because he is a Royal, unquestioned.

Not sure that the RF persistbecause of their relationship with the press, but I agree that Harry doesnt get the royal’s relationship
with the press at all. He doesn’t realise that there has to be give and take. Coupled with the fact that he only ever wants 100% positive coverage

It's not only about the money though.

Thank you, and fingers crossed.

That nonsense really riles me!! So far today is far more balanced and interesting!

I've learned a lot here from so many posters so much more knowledgeable on the subject than I am!

Look at the actual words though - it's reminiscent of "damning with faint praise". They didn't win either. They settled, and that's not a win. NGN didn't win either but I suspect avoiding their day in court was a major win for them, and what they sought all along!

I guess it was the condition of the settlement though - save face for Harry!

It's not "whatever you want to think" - it's a fact. He did NOT win. NGN did NOT win.

There's no way anyone can couch this as a "win", particularly in the light of Harry's stated objective, which he did not achieve!

I'd have been more "pleased" if heads had rolled at NGN!

You really think that's a "grovelling apology"??

I don't!

Supporters of the RF on the royal boards have their own unique perspective on this matter, which reads rather differently to the way it’s being reported outside of this site,
but I agree with Charles Spencer that it takes real guts to go up against such a dominate and malign force as News Group.

I think it was brave of Harry to do it when other less financially fortunate individuals, who had also been the victims of alleged illegal practices, , wouldn’t have had a hope of doing so.

Hopefully, some posters can now conclude that, logically, given current events, the news prism through which some stories about H & M are filtered, have not all been what you might call, completely fair and unbiased.

Cue twenty posts stating how that could not possibly be the case 😀

Exactly. After all the bravado.

I wonder how William feels about the mention of his mother.

Seems a bit bizarre when she's been dead for 27 years?

I think that it will be interesting to see if he settles with the Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday (trial date in 2026 iirc) or if he waits until the last minute to get maximum settlement.

It was obviously important to Harry that there was some acknowledgement of the press harassment of Diana. I don't think it has happened before.

I hope finally getting that apology brings him closure. It's old news in some ways but clearly still having an enormous impact on his every day life.

I think this is a far as any case could get this long after Leveson.

Surely, we can agree to disagree?

You are the OP.

I think it's a fulsome apology.

You don't

That's fine is it not??

I couldn't agree more with this.

I think I'd be more 'impressed' (if that's even the right word!) with the outcome if he hadn't painted himself as this superhero charging into battle, because this just creates a sense of letdown? And that in spite of all the boasting, he settled just the same as everyone else?

Surely to god his legal team must have advised him that the chance were he would be forced to settle, because the costs would be prohibitive?

Murdoch got what he wanted, make no mistake.

Bravo!

The praise for Harry in a lot of the MSM is certainly far more than on Mumsnet

Maybe only to be expected

He is being applauded elsewhere. That's hard to take for some

but I agree with Charles Spencer that it takes real guts to go up against such a dominate and malign force as News Group.

It's believed that NGN have settled cases with maybe 1000 claimants, paying out up to a billion in compensation. So Harry is hardly breaking new ground. In fact he was pretty late to the game. So late that part of his case was thrown out for being out of time.

I think it was brave of Harry to do it when other less financially fortunate individuals, who had also been the victims of alleged illegal practices, , wouldn’t have had a hope of doing so.

Doing what? Getting a settlement? As I said above, hundreds of people have done so over the past 15 years. They may not have made a song and dance of going for 'accountability' only to take the money at the last minute, but Harry is possibly the last, certainly not the first, to accept a settlement from NGN.

He's receiving the coverage he deserves in a lot of what I read

But this case doesn't cover the 'Harry and Meghan' era? And someone upthread made a good point that this historical case does feel very dated because the world has moved on so much that it's not even the press who are the 'enemy'; it's social media.

Yes, it does take a certain amount of 'guts' - though I suspect as the son of the King, you'd probably have a lot more confidence to do it, given your position. I think actually what carried Harry through this was his hotheadness and his abject hatred (understandably) of the press.

Yeah we can.

I just can't see it from your point of view at all though!

It's very careful crafted. I can imagine them poring over every single word.

The NY Post disabled the comments in their report about the verdict when they posted it yesterday. Somewhat unusual for them.

https://nypost.com/2025/01/22/entertainment/prince-harry-agrees-to-settlement-with-newspaper-for-invasion-of-privacy/

Out of interest what are you reading? Everything I have read is saying what many of us are saying - it isn’t a win for anyone , it’s a settlement.

Surely to god his legal team must have advised him that the chance were he would be forced to settle, because the costs would be prohibitive?

I've no doubt they would have done, @mainecooncatonahottinroof - also that they'd be able to prove it, in case Harry tried to claim later that he wasn't told and seek to blame his legal team too

But as said yesterday, it's one thing telling him and quite another for him to take it in, especially if he was in excitable "saviour mode" at the time.
After all if he had any ability to think things through he might not have been in this mess in the first place ...