| Advertisement |
April 25 (UPI) -- New court filings in the U.K. say a Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper secretly paid Prince William a large amount of money to settle a phone-hacking claim. Prince William received the payment in 2020 after he sued The Sun and News Group Newspapers, according to The Guardian. The new detail was revealed by William's brother, Prince Harry, who is also suing News Group.
Advertisement
In a witness statement on Tuesday, Harry said that there was a secret agreement between the royal family and "senior executives," at Murdoch's company, sometime before 2012. The agreement would mean delaying legal proceedings against the company in return for an apology.
However, Harry said News Group failed to uphold its side of the agreement when he sought an apology in 2017. He has said the company has hacked his voicemails and illegally obtained his personal information.
According to The Guardian, a spokesperson for the company said "the Sun does not accept liability or make any admissions to the allegations," and emphasized that many of Harry's claims dated back 20 years.
Harry is seeking more than $200,000 worth of damages, with a trial scheduled for January.
The Guardian reported the royal's lawyers told the court News UK had engaged in "years of deliberate concealment, destruction of evidence, cover-up at the highest level and false denials even given under oath".
"The invasion of his personal conversations and relationships caused distress, as his privacy was constantly violated and his safety jeopardized," Harry's lawyers said.
Murdoch's Fox Corp. last week reached a $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, over its false claims surrounding the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
