Prince Harry and The Sun's publisher 'very close' to settlement, High Court told
21 January 2025, 17:31
Prince Harry and The Sun's publisher are said to be "very close" to agreeing a settlement, as negotiations continue, the High Court has been told.
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The case sees the Duke of Sussex and former Labour deputy leader, Lord Tom Watson, suing News Group Newspapers (NGN) over allegations of unlawful information-gathering.
The trial had been due to start at the High Court in London at 10.30am on Tuesday, but the case was delayed twice before both sides' barristers requested an adjournment until 10am on Wednesday.
Both sides said they are in the midst of "intense negotiations" that point towards an out-of-court settlement.
The newspaper group, arguably best known for running the now-defunct News Of The World, continues to deny any involvement in unlawful activity that took place at The Sun.
However, on Tuesday, a judge refused a third request for a delay to the start of the trial.
The trial was due to start at 10.30am on Tuesday but was pushed back to 11.30am after a request from both sides, and then delayed again to 2pm following a second request.
The request was refused by Mr Justice Fancourt - who said the two sides had already had "ample time to seek to resolve their differences".
News Group Newspapers and the Duke of Sussex's teams could now go to the Court of Appeal to challenge the judge's decision.
On Tuesday afternoon David Sherborne, for the duke and Lord Watson, asked for "more time" before the trial started, but this was rejected by Mr Justice Fancourt.
Mr Sherborne said: "Having spoken with Mr Hudson (Anthony Hudson KC, counsel for NGN), on behalf of both of us we would like to ask Your Lordship for more time.
"We don't do that lightly, as I am sure Your Lordship appreciates, but we do believe that with a couple of hours more today that, that given the progress that has been made between the parties, that that hopefully may be productive for the overall timetable of the trial.
"I can't say more about it at this stage. In the circumstances, there is only so much I can say, but Mr Hudson and I would not be asking for further time if we did not think it stood any prospect of potentially saving a lot of court time."
Anthony Hudson KC, for NGN, said: "Both parties are in complete agreement... The number of times the parties have been in agreement in this litigation are very few and far between."
Mr Hudson said the legal teams for both sides "have been involved in very intense negotiations over the last few days and the reality is we are very close".
