- Prince William got "a very large sum of money" from a Rupert Murdoch newspaper settlement.
- It was brought to light by Prince Harry's lawyers in a separate case against the UK media.
Prince William received "a very large sum of money" in a 2020 settlement with Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers, according to court documents brought to light on Tuesday in a separate lawsuit filed by Prince Harry against the media empire, the Associated Press reported.
Prince Harry is currently suing News Group Newspapers, the publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World, saying it unlawfully gathered information about him, according to the BBC.
The Murdoch-owned News Group Newspapers argued Harry's suit should be thrown out because it was brought too late, the AP reported, but Harry's legal team argued that he was not able to bring the case earlier because of a secret agreement brokered by the late Queen Elizabeth and the newspapers that called for a quiet settlement and an apology.
"NGN's position is that there was no such secret agreement," a spokesperson for the company said when contacted by Insider for comment.
When speaking of the secret agreement, Harry's lawyers also revealed Prince William settled his historical phone-hacking claims against NGN for a large but unspecified sum in 2020, according to the AP.
NGN declined to comment on whether or not Prince William received an undisclosed payment as part of a settlement when contacted by Insider. However, a spokesperson for the company said in a statement provided to Insider, "In 2012, an unreserved apology was made to all of those who had brought cases against the News of the World for voicemail interception. Since then, NGN has been paying financial damages to those with claims."
"There are a number of disputed claims still going through the civil courts some of which seek to involve The Sun. The Sun does not accept liability or make any admissions to the allegations," the spokesperson added. "As we reach the tail end of litigation, NGN is drawing a line under disputed matters, some of which date back more than 20 years ago. All of these matters are historical, dating back to a period between 1996 and 2012."
Representatives for Prince Harry and Prince William did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
According to the BBC, Prince Harry said in a witness statement he became aware of Queen Elizabeth's deal with the newspapers around 2012 when he and Prince William approached the royal family's lawyer about taking legal action against News Group Newspapers for alleged phone hacking.
"The rationale behind this was that a secret agreement had been reached between the institution and senior executives at News Group Newspapers, whereby members of the Royal Family would bring phone hacking claims only at the conclusion of [all other cases] and at that stage the claims would be admitted or settled with an apology," Prince Harry said in his statement, according to the BBC.
He went on to say in his witness statement that the settlement was arranged in the hopes that the royals could "avoid the situation where a member of the royal family would have to sit in the witness box and recount the specific details of the private and highly-sensitive voicemails that had been intercepted," the BBC reported.
"This agreement, including the promises from NGN for delayed resolution was, obviously, a major factor as to why no claim was brought by me at that time," Prince Harry added in his witness statement.
Harry is also currently suing Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Daily Mail, for illegal information gathering. In March, he appeared in court in London to provide a witness statement for the case, in which he also elaborated on his case against NGN.
"The Institution was without a doubt withholding information from me for a long time about NGN's phone hacking and that has only become clear in recent years as I have pursued my own claim with different legal advice and representation," Harry said in his witness statement, according to The Guardian.
"It is not an exaggeration to say that the bubble burst in terms of what I knew in 2020 when I moved out of the United Kingdom," he added, speaking of his and Meghan's move to Montecito, California.