Prince Harry Takes on the Tabloid Titans: The High-Stakes Showdown with Rupert Murdoch’s Media Empire

LONDON — Opening statements are poised to commence Tuesday in a trial concerning grievances lodged by Prince Harry and a senior UK lawmaker against Rupert Murdoch’s London tabloid publications. It encompasses considerable implications on both sides of the Atlantic.

Harry’s accusation contends that Murdoch’s reporters and private detectives unlawfully accessed the prince’s private information for an extended period. Harry has placed much of the blame on the media, particularly the Murdoch outlets, for the divide he has faced with the royal family and the emotional difficulties faced by his spouse, Meghan Markle. He achieved success in a hacking case involving the competing Mirror tabloid and asserts he aims to hold the Murdoch tabloids responsible as well, not only for invading his privacy but for that of many others over the years.

“I’m the last individual who can truly accomplish that, and also provide closure for these 1,300 individuals and families,” Harry recently mentioned to The New York Times. “I will be damned if those reporters are going to ruin journalism for everyone, as we rely on it.”

While other British newspaper entities have acknowledged comparable misconduct, the Murdoch organization remains in a league of its own.

News UK, the Murdoch British newspaper division that encompasses his tabloids, has compensated over $1.5 billion to individuals who lodged complaints against the corporation for unlawfully acquiring private information, including voice mail recordings, financial and health records, and other sensitive documents.

The prince’s mention of “1,300 individuals and families” refers to those who have received settlements; consequently, their claims were kept out of a trial and public sight. Of the 40 complainants initially involved in this litigation, all except the prince and the lawmaker have reached settlements.

In addition to members of the royal family and notable politicians, those targeted included well-known actors, musicians, athletes, the families of those killed in wars, and victims of crime and terrorism.

Many settlements were associated with the Sunday tabloid, News of the World. Murdoch publicly apologized and ceased publication of the paper in July 2011 after it was disclosed that its journalists had intercepted the mobile voice mail messages of a murdered schoolgirl. Several individuals, including a former editor of that Sunday tabloid, served prison sentences for related crimes. The company has also reached settlements regarding allegations against Murdoch’s everyday Sun tabloid, which now publishes on Sundays. However, the company has never admitted to any wrongdoing when settling those claims.

A grievance from a lawmaker who examined Murdoch’s tabloids

The second complaint, submitted by former Member of Parliament Tom Watson, who is now in the House of Lords, alleges that personnel working for Murdoch’s newspapers unlawfully accessed Watson’s mobile phone voice messages while he served on a Parliamentary select committee investigating their newspapers’ potentially illegal activities from 2008 to 2012.

The trial concerning Harry and Watson’s grievances could expose the questionable conduct of Will Lewis, a former senior Murdoch executive who is now the publisher and CEO of The Washington Post. Lewis is accused of being involved in a cover-up 14 years ago that entailed the destruction of millions of emails and withholding additional evidence from authorities that company executives were aware of the misconduct.

“This pertains to the influence of individuals who remain very powerful and their abuses — and whether they are held accountable for it,” states Chris Huhne, a former British Cabinet minister who also litigated against Murdoch’s British newspaper firm, News UK, alleging it had hacked into his private voice messages. In December 2023, he withdrew the lawsuit after the company provided him a six-figure settlement and covered his legal fees.

The grievances were directed at the tabloid sector of Murdoch’s British newspaper division; neither Murdoch nor Lewis is a defendant in this case. Lewis, who has denied any allegations, chose not to provide a comment for this piece.

Through a representative, News UK proclaimed it “strongly denies” any unlawful gathering of information regarding Watson and stated it will vigorously defend itself against Harry’s assertions, citing that the claims have been brought too long after the events occurred.

Additionally, News UK refuted the accusation regarding the destruction of emails.

“This allegation is incorrect, unsustainable, and will be robustly denied,” the statement concluded.

The trial is anticipated to extend six to eight weeks, unless an agreement is achieved.

A succession of lawsuits against Murdoch’s media outlets

This case signifies the pinnacle and possible conclusion of a protracted controversy that commenced decades ago. While News UK has asserted that any misconduct was attributable to a handful of past offenders, new disclosures have since ignited waves of renewed legal action.

The 93-year-old Murdoch is the originator of Fox News and the principal owner of significant publications across the English-speaking world, including the Wall Street Journal, the Times of London, and the New York Post. Murdoch expanded his global influence due to the success of his London publications, notably his Sunday News of the World and daily Sun tabloid.

Legal hurdles have also arisen. In 2023, Fox News settled a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems, totaling $787.5 million, over false claims aired regarding fraud in the 2020 presidential election that allegedly benefited President Biden. Fox is set to face a second trial later this year in a $2.7 billion lawsuit from another voting technology company, Smartmatic.

It is not anticipated that either Murdoch or Lewis will provide testimony. However, the implications of this trial in London and the public’s perception could jeopardize Lewis’s oversight of the Washington Post, particularly following his tumultuous first year in charge. Several members of his own newsroom in Washington have openly criticized his management. Last week, hundreds of Post journalists signed a letter urging owner Jeff Bezos to intervene. (Through a representative, Lewis and the Post opted against commenting. An aide to Bezos did not respond to a request for remarks.)

The London cases pertain to the onset of his employment with Murdoch in the U.K. Murdoch recruited Lewis from the competing Telegraph Media Group as an executive in 2010, where he quickly undertook highly confidential responsibilities. The media magnate tasked Lewis and one of his close associates to collaborate with Scotland Yard during their inquiry into alleged criminal activities at his tabloids. Numerous journalists and investigators pleaded guilty to legal infractions. A former editor of Murdoch’s News of the World was found guilty of conspiring to eavesdrop on phones and served nearly five months in jail.

Watson’s attorneys claim that the hacking of his phone did not result in any known newspaper articles, implying that it was an effort to gather information regarding the parliamentary investigation.

Lewis informs police a former prime minister may have targeted News UK’s CEO

Lewis is accused by Watson’s legal team of facilitating the destruction of evidence, providing false information to investigators, and tarnishing Watson’s reputation as well as that of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown to justify withholding evidence. Watson had been a vocal critic of the Murdochs within Parliament.

Documents presented in lawsuits against News UK indicate that police interrogated Lewis and chief technology officer Paul Cheesbrough in July 2011 regarding the deletion of millions of emails six months prior, which plaintiffs believed contained proof of the offenses.

When questioned about the email deletions, Lewis and Cheesbrough asserted they had been informed that Brown and Watson had conspired to pay a former News UK employee to obtain the emails belonging to its CEO, Rebekah Brooks. Both politicians have refuted any such conspiracy.

“We received a tip from a source that a current staff member had accessed Rebekah’s emails and transmitted them to Tom WATSON,” Lewis stated, according to police records of that meeting later disclosed in court. “Then the source returned and clarified it was a former staff member, and the emails had indeed been shared and were under the oversight of Gordon BROWN. This heightened our concerns.”

No evidence supporting that assertion has been made public as of yet.

Lewis facing scrutiny

Last summer, Brown officially requested Scotland Yard to initiate a new criminal investigation into News UK regarding these allegations. He remarked to NPR that Bezos should rethink whether Lewis is suitable to lead the Washington Post. An elite investigative unit has begun a preliminary examination, but police have not yet declared if they will expand it into a comprehensive investigation.

Recently, over 400 Post journalists urged Bezos to make a visit to the paper to confront their leadership concerns, although they did not specify Lewis by name. Many were previously incensed by reports revealing that Lewis had pressured journalists—including their then-top editor and this NPR correspondent—not to report on developments in the London lawsuits that implicated him.

After his tenure with News UK, Lewis advanced to serve as a senior executive at Murdoch’s News Corp headquarters in New York City. Over six years, he held the position of publisher and chief executive of the Wall Street Journal. Cheesbrough, the preceding IT executive at News UK, now serves as chief technology officer for Murdoch’s Fox Corp. (He declined to comment through a Fox Corp. spokesperson.) Brooks, the head of News UK, had previously edited the News of the World and the Sun. She left the organization amidst the scandal but returned after being acquitted of criminal charges related to hacking.

Last year, News UK emphasized its settlements, participation in previous Parliamentary and judicial reviews, and the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision against pursuing criminal charges against the company, supporting its claim that it has acted in good faith to rectify any preceding misconduct. The organization has stated it is now “closing the chapter” to highlight its belief that this matter must be regarded as resolved. The lawsuits from Prince Harry and Watson, who now serves in the House of Lords as Baron Watson of Wyre Forest, represent the final two assertions.

Under British law, a claimant pursuing a civil action can be compelled to cover the defendant’s legal expenses if they reject a settlement proposal that surpasses the judgment amount awarded at trial. The amounts of damages are typically much lower than in the U.S. The actor Hugh Grant cited these concerns when accepting what he termed an “enormous sum of money” from News UK to resolve his case. He indicated that he might otherwise have faced a bill of 10 million pounds for the company’s legal fees.

As the trial commences, Harry seems willing to embrace that risk.