What does Prince Harry’s settlement mean for him and the British royal family?

Prince Harry’s last-minute stint with Rupert Murdoch’s tabloids, ending a long-running feud, was on the front pages of several London papers on Thursday, although it was clearly not owned by Mr Murdoch.

The Sun, which admitted wrongdoing by the private investigators it hired a decade ago, didn’t go into the story until page 6 to dig up personal information on Harry. Bottom of page 12, next to the report on actress Judi Dench’s eye fall.

Associated Press publisher Harim is facing charges of hacking his phone and invading his privacy, the Daily Mail reported the news internally. Case for Harry in 2023.

The harsh realities of war with Britain’s tabloids, as Harry did in 2019, brought the first charges against three powerful publishers: Associated Press, the Mirror Group and Mr Murdoch’s News Group newspapers. The Daily Mail’s case is expected to go to trial next year.

Even papers not in conflict with Harry, like the right-wing Daily Telegraph, rejected the deal. The Telegraph, in a front-page article, said, “Harry steps down after eight-figure payday,” adding that “his efforts to bring down part of Murdoch’s empire ended in failure rather than shock.”

Critics of the press coverage said it downplayed the significance of Harry’s move. Crucially, that included the first disclosure of wrongdoing by Newsgroup newspapers, on The News of the World, which Mr Murdoch said in 2015. The tabloid closed in 2011, but also on The Sun, a major British tabloid.

The Newsgroup stressed that the admission was directed at private investigators, not The Sun editors or journalists. But the paper has been edited over the years by Rebecca Brooks, who is now chief executive of News UK (News Group Newspapers, a subsidiary of News UK, publishes The Sun).

Harry’s accuser, Tom Watson, the former deputy leader of the Labor Party, said he would give the police a dossier detailing the criminal activity. Harry’s lawyer, David Sherborne, urged police and parliament to investigate not only wrongdoing at The Sun, but perjury and cover-ups by current and former news executives.

Peter Hunt, the BBC’s former royal correspondent, said: “If you’re interested in responsible media, it was Harry’s act in the public interest at great cost to himself.” “He made them accept something they didn’t want to accept for years.”

Mr Hunt added: “The disgusting thing about him is that people don’t appreciate him. “So much of Harry’s perception of what he’s going through is through the lens of the media, which is an incredible enemy to him.”

After announcing their plans to leave Britain in 2020, press coverage of Harry and his wife Meghan has turned negative. It has taken a serious toll on their popularity – in Britain last year, Harry’s approval rating was 74 per cent to his brother William’s 32 per cent in a YouGov poll. Meghan’s rating was 19 percent, the lowest rating for a popular royal.

Alan Rusbridger, a former editor of The Guardian, told Channel 4 on Wednesday, referring to the traditional way of London newspaper publishing: “To see Prince Harry’s name and his wife’s name blackened on Fleet Street was truly horrific. It seems like a deliberate ploy to destroy the credibility of someone who is a threat to them.

In this case, Harry may have made matters worse by showing the importance of a trial. Speaking at the New York Times Deal Book conference last month, he explained that under English law, plaintiffs who do not accept settlements beyond what they were awarded in court are on the hook for legal costs for both sides. Newsgroup newspapers have spent more than a billion dollars to settle 1,300 phone hacking claims, with only Harry and Mr Watson deciding to take their claims to court.

“They’ve been calm because they have to settle,” Harry said. “So one of the main reasons you can see this is accountability because I’m really the last person who can achieve that.”

Just before the trial, Harry agreed to a minimum 10 million pound ($12.3 million) settlement. According to Piers Morgan, Prince’s broadcaster and vocal critic, Posted on social media“So the ‘moral cross’ Prince Harry took the money.

Harry didn’t say what he intended to do with the money. Although media lawyer Daniel Taylor says these legal bills are very heavy, they are usually covered by a separate fee from the party. He did not comment beyond a statement read by Sherborne.

On the one hand, Harry’s decision to settle could ease his rift with his family. He said his campaign against the tabloids last year was the main reason for the rift with his brother William and their father, King Charles III.

Harry said they had a “confidentiality agreement” with the news team not to testify about potentially embarrassing details from their hacked voicemail messages, agreeing to stop or settle legal claims. His brother William said in a legal filing that he had agreed to a “big money” deal with The News Group in 2020.

Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, where William is based, declined to comment on the settlement.

Harry avoids another embarrassing scene for the royal family by joining his brother. But Mr Hunt and other royal watchers cautioned against concluding that this alone would cure tragic issues such as Meghan’s treatment by the family and washing dirty laundry.

“The damage is so deep that one court case won’t be enough to solve it,” Mr Hunt said. “The cracks run wide.”