Prince Harry‘s legal battle against Rupert Murdoch‘s News Group Newspapers (NGN) has drawn significant public attention, with reports initially suggesting he walked away with a £10 million ($12.5 million) settlement. However, new details reveal that Harry personally received only a fraction of that sum, with the majority covering legal expenses and costs associated with his co-plaintiff, former Labour MP Tom Watson.
Despite headlines framing the settlement as a huge financial win for Harry, sources close to the case argue that the real victory was forcing NGN to admit to criminal wrongdoing, something it had long denied-particularly regarding its flagship publication, The Sun.
How much did Harry really receive?
While some media outlets suggested Harry had personally profited from the case, new insights from The Daily Beast paint a very different picture.
“Any sum being speculated on was a total sum and includes damages and costs for the two cases (Sussex and Watson), and a majority (in the region of 75 percent) of the total figure is provided to cover legal costs,” a source familiar with the settlement revealed.
This means that after deductions, Harry may have received as little as £2 million ($2.5 million)-only about £1 million ($1.25 million) more than Prince William‘s secret 2020 settlement with NGN for his own phone hacking claims.
While Harry‘s financial payout was significantly lower than initially assumed, his supporters maintain that his primary goal was to force accountability from NGN rather than to seek financial compensation.
NGN had previously admitted illegal newsgathering practices at the now-defunct News of the World, but denied similar wrongdoing at The Sun. However, as part of Harry‘s settlement, the media giant finally acknowledged that unlawful tactics were used at The Sun as well.
The settlement marked the first time NGN publicly apologized to Harry and his late mother, Princess Diana. However, a key issue remained unresolved-the alleged cover-up of phone hacking evidence by NGN executives.
One of Harry‘s demands during the legal proceedings was for senior NGN executives involved in the cover-up to be named.
However, NGN strategically avoided this, issuing a carefully worded legal admission that acknowledged wrongdoing without incriminating key figures.