Hugh Grant settles lawsuit against The Sun, Prince Harry may follow suit

NGN said the settlement with Grant was “in both parties’ financial interests not to progress to a costly trial”.

Miller settled a lawsuit against NGN in 2021, which her lawyers said at the time was because of the risk of having to pay millions of pounds in legal fees even if she won.

Grant has become a prominent campaigner on press reform since the phone-hacking scandal emerged more than a decade ago, and had joined forces with Harry in recent years. He had accused Sun journalists of using private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house.

As is common with entirely innocent people, they are offering me an enormous sum of money to keep this matter out of court.

Hugh Grant

Grant had previously brought a lawsuit against NGN in relation to the now-defunct News of the World tabloid which was settled in 2012, a year after NGN issued an apology to victims and media magnate Murdoch shut the newspaper down following a public backlash over hacking.

NGN has always rejected allegations of any wrongdoing by staff at The Sun, having settled more than 1300 cases – plus another 300 or so through its own compensation scheme.

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However, the settlement of Grant’s lawsuit, which focused exclusively on alleged wrongdoing at The Sun, raises questions about the sustainability of that long-held position.

“The Sun does not accept liability or make any admissions to the allegations,” an NGN spokesperson said.

The settlement does reduce the chances of NGN facing a trial at all over claims of unlawful information-gathering, although, as Sherborne said, Harry’s lawsuit continues. The prince has spoken repeatedly of his “mission” to purge the British press.

He and other claimants last month sought to drag Murdoch into the case, alleging he was personally involved in a cover-up of wrongdoing, with a ruling on their application still pending.

NGN says the claimants are using the lawsuits as a means to attack the tabloid press and that allegations against current and former staff are “a scurrilous and cynical attack on their integrity”.

On Wednesday, NGN’s lawyer Anthony Hudson asked the court to direct that the full trial currently listed to begin in January should instead be held to decide whether the claimants should have brought their lawsuits against the publisher earlier.

Reuters

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