Prince Harry phone hacking case

According to court documents, Palace threatened to hire solicitors after growing "frustrated" with News Group Newspapers for resolving phone-hacking charges.

The communications were disclosed in connection with Prince Harry's phone-hacking action against News Group Newspapers (NGN), the owners of The Sun, and the long-gone News of the World.

According to court documents, palace representatives negotiating with the Queen's support threatened to hire solicitors to obtain a private phone-hacking settlement with News Group Newspapers (NGN).

The Palace's staff advised hiring solicitors after growing "frustrated" with Rupert Murdoch's top news executives' lack of response in 2018.

In response to the group's allegations that members of the royal group family had their phones hacked by the now-defunct News of the World, they sent emails showing an "institutional appetite" to strike an out-of-court settlement with them.

The messages from palace officials described how the Queen had granted the speaker "full authority" and was "aware" of the discussions.

The emails were revealed in court as part of Prince Harry's lawsuit against NGN, which also publishes The Sun, for alleged illegal data collection at its two publications.

At a three-day hearing in London on Tuesday, the group requested that Harry's lawsuit and a related one made by actor Hugh Grant be dismissed.

The claims, according to NGN, were made too late.

The emails detail conversations in December 2017 between Robert Thomson, the CEO of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., Sally Osman, the former press secretary for the Queen, and News UK president Rebekah Brooks.

Ms. Osman expressed a desire to come to a resolution that would "draw a line under such matters between our two institutions" in one email she wrote.

To quickly establish a settlement, she added, it is essential that we have this conversation with The Queen's full authority and awareness of the scope and implications of hacking and spying on her family, their staff, associates, friends, and family.

However, Ms. Osman voiced her "disappointment" that no development had been achieved by March 2018 after setting up a meeting between the parties.

Assuming you received my email from December 11 last year, I wrote: "I was surprised not to receive an acknowledgment, let alone a reply, given our extremely amicable and, in my opinion, constructive meeting."

I am aware that business is strong, of course. 

But, there is a mounting frustration about the need for more cooperation or interest in helping us handle an internal conflict between the Royal Household and News Corporation.

"Finding a resolution without lawyers' involvement is still the hope,"

Ms. Brooks and Mr. Thomson sent regretful comments in response to the email, attributing the oversight to his hectic schedule and "mountain" of daily notes.

Although asserting that there was an "institutional appetite to hasten things and start having a more tangible debate," Ms. Osman pushed for a resolution in May.

She said, "We are still strongly in the position that we are against this turning into a legal negotiation, even though it would help."

According to David Sherborne, Harry's attorney in court on Thursday, the late Queen had previously participated in "discussions and authorization" that the Royal Family would delay bringing legal action against NGN until the resolution of the hacking issue.

The agreement "meant that the plaintiff could not launch a claim against NGN for phone hacking at that time," Mr. Sherborne claimed in his submissions.

After the Mobile Telephone Voicemail Interception Lawsuit (MTVIL), it was decided that News would either acknowledge the allegation or settle it with an apology without the involvement of solicitors.

"The claimant and the institution started to strive for the resolution of the pending claim in 2017.

However, News continued to stall on this matter until the claimant finally made his claim in 2019.

The attorney informed Mr. Judge Fancourt that Harry knew that "an arrangement had been made between the institution and News Group" by 2012.

He said, "It is precisely because of the hidden agreement that no claim was brought before 2019."

Harry's attorneys also contend that NGN is trying to hide the "secret agreement" by attempting to dismiss Harry's claim.

Additionally, Mr. Sherborne informed the court that Prince William, Harry's brother, had "recently settled his claim against NGN behind the scenes."

The court will decide on Friday whether the allegations will move forward to a trial, which is scheduled to take place in January of next year, once the hearing concludes.

The publisher of The Mail and Mail On Sunday, Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), was personally addressed at the High Court last month for a preliminary hearing. The Duke of Sussex is now pursuing many legal matters, including this one.

Another case where he is likely to testify is the trial against tabloid publisher Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is set to begin next month over allegations of publishing illicit material. In June, Harry is due to appear in court.

In response to the phone hacking controversy, NGN closed The News of the World in 2011 but has consistently claimed that The Sun engaged in illegal information gathering.