Prince Harry’s trial against the publisher of The Sun, which opens Tuesday, follows two decades of legal drama over the cutthroat practices of the British press in the days when newspapers sold millions of copies and shaped the popular conversation.
The scandal destroyed a Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper and cost Murdoch hundreds of millions of dollars to settle lawsuits from the targets of tabloid attention. And it fueled Harry’s quest to tame the British press, which he blames for dividing his family, blighting his life and hounding both his late mother Princess Diana and his wife, Meghan Markle.
Here are key moments in the saga:
November 2005
Murdoch’s Sunday tabloid the News of the World reports that Prince William has a knee injury. A Buckingham Palace complaint prompts a police inquiry that reveals information for the story came from a voicemail that was hacked.
January 2007
Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator working for the News of the World, is sentenced to six months in prison and the paper’s royal editor Clive Goodman to four months for hacking the phones of royal aides to listen to messages left by William and others. Goodman later acknowledges hacking William’s phone 35 times and that of his then-girlfriend Kate Middleton — now Princess of Wales — more than 150 times.
Murdoch’s company initially maintains that the illicit behavior was the work of two rogue employees working without editors’ knowledge.
January 2011
British police reopen an investigation into tabloid phone hacking after the News of the World says it has found “significant new information.”
April 2011
The News of the World admits liability for phone hacking. The following month, it agrees to pay actress Sienna Miller 100,000 pounds to settle a hacking lawsuit. Since then, Murdoch’s News Corp. has paid to settle claims by scores of celebrities, politicians, athletes and others against both the News of the World and its sister tabloid, The Sun – though it has never accepted liability for hacking by The Sun.
July 2011
The Guardian newspaper reports that News of the World journalists hacked the phone of Milly Dowler, a murdered 13-year-old schoolgirl, while police were searching for her in 2002. The revelation causes public outrage, and prompts Murdoch to shut down the 168-year-old News of the World.
November 2012
A judge-led inquiry into media ethics ordered by then-Prime Minister David Cameron concludes that “outrageous” behavior by some in the press had “wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people whose rights and liberties have been disdained.” Judge Brian Leveson recommends the creation of a strong press watchdog, backed by government regulation. His findings have only been partially implemented.
October 2013
Former News of the World editors Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks go on trial alongside several other defendants at London’s Central Criminal Court on charges of phone hacking and illegal payments to officials. After an eight-month trial, Coulson is convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Brooks is acquitted. She is now chief executive of Murdoch’s British newspaper business.
December 2015
England’s chief prosecutor says there will be no more criminal cases against Murdoch’s U.K. company or its employees, or against 10 people under investigation from the rival Mirror Group Newspapers, including former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan. Both companies continue to pay to settle hacking lawsuits.
2019-onwards
Prince Harry launches lawsuits against three newspaper groups – Murdoch’s News Group, the Mirror Group and Associated Newspapers. He claims stories about his schooldays, teenage shenanigans and relationships with girlfriends were obtained by hacking, bugging, deception or other forms of illegal intrusion.
February 2021
Harry’s wife Meghan wins an invasion of privacy lawsuit against Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers over publication of a letter she wrote in 2018 to her estranged father.
June 2023
Harry testifies in his case against the Mirror Group, becoming the first British royal in more than a century to appear in the witness box.
December 2023
Harry wins his case against the Mirror Group when a judge rules that Mirror newspapers had hired private investigators to snoop for personal information and engaged in illegal phone hacking for well over a decade. He is awarded legal costs and 140,000 pounds in damages.
February 2024
The Mirror Group agrees to pay Harry legal costs and undisclosed damages to settle outstanding claims. Harry says he is vindicated and vows: “Our mission continues.”
Jan. 21, 2025
The trial is due to open in lawsuits by Harry and former Labour Party lawmaker Tom Watson against The Sun. They are the only two remaining from among dozens of claimants after others accepted settlements rather than risk potentially ruinous legal bills. The prince is due to testify in person during the 10-week trial.
Harry’s case against Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Daily Mail, is ongoing.
