Murdoch's UK tabloids apologize to Prince Harry and admit intruding on the late Princess Diana

LONDON (AP) — Prince Harry claimed a “monumental” victory Wednesday as Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. tabloids made an unprecedented apology for intruding in his life for years, and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his privacy invasion lawsuit.

News Group Newspapers acknowledged its private investigators and journalists targeted Harry with phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information. The company offered him a “full and unequivocal apology" for intrusion by the now-defunct News of the World and its sister tabloid The Sun.

The statement, read out at the High Court in London by Harry’s attorney David Sherborne, even went beyond the scope of the case to acknowledge intruding on the life of Harry's mother, the late Princess Diana, and the impact it had on his family.

“We acknowledge and apologize for the distress caused to the duke, and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages,” the settlement statement said.

News Group has long acknowledged that phones were hacked by staff at the News of the World, the weekly newspaper that Murdoch shut down in 2011 amid a public outcry over tabloid snooping. But this is the first time the company accepted wrongdoing at The Sun, a paper that once sold millions of copies with its formula of sports, celebrities and sex — including topless women on Page 3.

Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles III, had vowed to take his case to trial to publicly expose The Sun's misdeeds and win a court ruling upholding his claims. He and Tom Watson, a former Labour Party member of Parliament, were the only two remaining claimants out of more than 1,300 others who had settled lawsuits against News Group Newspapers.

The trial was due to start Tuesday, but was postponed amid last-minute negotiations that led to the dramatic settlement announcement.

Although the settlement means Harry will not get his day in court, his lawyer said it delivered the accountability he sought for himself and hundreds of others who were snooped on with intercepted voicemails, tapped phones, bugged cars and various forms of deception.

News Group acknowledged “phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators” aimed at Harry. NGN had strongly denied those allegations before trial.

“This represents a vindication for the hundreds of other claimants who were strong-armed into settling without being able to get to the truth of what was done to them,” Sherborne said outside court.

Harry's feud with the press dates back to his youth, when the tabloids took glee in reporting on everything from his injuries to his girlfriends to dabbling with drugs.

But his fury with the tabloids goes much deeper.

He blames the media for the death of his mother, who was killed in a car crash in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi in Paris. He also blames them for the persistent attacks on his wife, actor Meghan Markle, that led them to leave royal life and flee to the U.S. in 2020.

The litigation has been a source of friction in his family, Harry said in the documentary “Tabloids On Trial.”

He revealed in court papers that his father opposed his lawsuit. He also said his older brother William, Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, had settled a private complaint against News Group that his lawyer has said was worth over 1 million pounds ($1.23 million).

“I’m doing this for my reasons,” Harry told the documentary makers, though he said he wished his family had joined him.

Watson, who was targeted by NGN when he was part of an investigation into allegations of tabloid wrongdoing, also said the intrusion had taken a heavy toll on himself and his family.

“I once said that the big beasts of the tabloid jungle have no predators,” Watson said. “I was wrong, they have Prince Harry. … We are grateful to him for his unwavering support and his determination under extraordinary pressure.”

Watson, who also received an apology and substantial settlement, called on Murdoch to issue a personal apology to Harry, the king and “countless others” affected by tabloid intrusion.

News Group Newspapers said the settlement “draws a line under the past” and ends more than a decade of litigation.

The company has now settled more than 1,300 claims without going to trial. In doing so, it has spent more than 1 billion pounds ($1.24 billion) in payouts and legal costs.

Harry's attorney said the company still had questions to answer. Sherborne said the company engaged in “perjury and cover-ups” to obscure the truth for years, deleting 30 million emails and other records.

“There was an extensive conspiracy,” the statement said, in which “senior executives deliberately obstructed justice.”

News Group said in a statement that it would have disputed at trial that evidence was destroyed and it continues to deny those allegations.

Sherborne took aim at former Sun editor Rebekah Brooks, now the CEO overseeing News Group, who was acquitted of phone hacking a decade ago.

“At her trial in 2014, Rebekah Brooks said, ‘When I was editor of The Sun, we ran a clean ship,’” he said. ”Ten years later when she is CEO of the company, they now admit, when she was editor of The Sun, they ran a criminal enterprise.”

NGN apologized for wrongdoing by private eyes hired by The Sun, but not for anything done by its journalists, adding: “There was no voicemail interception on The Sun.”

Harry’s case against NGN was one of three he brought accusing British tabloids of violating his privacy by eavesdropping on phone messages or using private investigators to unlawfully help them score scoops.

His case against the publisher of the Daily Mirror ended in victory when the judge ruled that phone hacking was “widespread and habitual” at the newspaper and its sister publications.

During that trial in 2023, Harry became the first senior member of the royal family to testify in court since the late 19th century, putting him at odds with the monarchy’s desire to keep its problems out of view.

The outcome in the News Group case raises questions about how his third case — against the publisher of the Daily Mail — will proceed. That trial is scheduled next year.

FILE - Rebekah Brooks, former News International chief executive, talks to members of the media in central London, Thursday, June 26, 2014. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File)

FILE -Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at United Nations headquarters, July 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

FILE - Meghan Markle and Prince Harry pose for pictures after visiting the observatory in One World Trade in New York, Sept. 23, 2021.(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

FILE -Britain's Prince Harry and his fiancee Meghan Markle pose for photographers during a photocall in the grounds of Kensington Palace in London, Nov. 27, 2017. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

FILE -Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, attends the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix auto race at Circuit of the Americas, Oct. 22, 2023, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings), File)

FILE -Britain's Prince Harry leaves after attending an Invictus Games Foundation 10th Anniversary Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral in London, May 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth), File)

Layer Clare Montgomery departs the High Court as Prince Harry's legal action against News Group Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information gathering begins in London, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

British lawmaker Tom Watson, center, arrives at the High Court, as Prince Harry's legal action against News Group Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information gathering begins, in London, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Lawyer David Sherborne, front, arrives at the High Court, as Prince Harry's legal action against News Group Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information gathering begins, in London, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

British lawmaker Tom Watson arrives at the High Court, as Prince Harry's legal action against News Group Newspapers over allegations of unlawful information gathering begins, in London, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

FILE - News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch delivers a keynote address at the National Summit on Education Reform in San Francisco, Oct. 14, 2011. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File)

FILE - Prince Harry leaves the High Court after giving evidence in London, Wednesday, June 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

FILE - Prince Harry leaves the High Court after giving evidence in London, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)