Prince Harry's lawsuit against Murdoch's UK group moves towards trial as others settle
Harry's case one of just two not settled
Trial listed to begin in January
NGN says settlements make 'commercial sense'
Updates with judge's ruling and comment in paragraphs 12-13
By Sam Tobin
LONDON, Nov 15 (Reuters) -Prince Harry will pursue his lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN) over alleged unlawful activities by journalists and private investigators despite dozens of others settling their cases, his lawyer said on Friday.
Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles, is suing the publisher of the Sun and the now-defunct News of the World at the High Court in London, alleging NGN unlawfully obtained private information about him from 1996 until 2011.
His case was one of about 40 lawsuits against NGN, but all but one other litigant – former Labour Party deputy leader Tom Watson – have now settled, Harry's lawyer David Sherborne told the court.
Those who have agreed to settle include Spice Girl Melanie Brown, former BBC executive Alan Yentob, "Game of Thrones" actor Alfie Allen, Ted Beckham, the father of former England soccer captain David Beckham, and Queen Camilla's nephew, Ben Elliot.
An NGN spokesperson said: "In some disputed cases, it has made commercial sense to come to a settlement agreement before trial to bring a resolution to the matter.
"As we reach the tail end of the litigation, NGN is drawing a line under the disputed matters."
Harry's lawyers applied on Friday for NGN to search for emails between senior executives at News Corp NWSA.O – including chief executive Robert Thomson – and royal staff.
At a hearing last year, Harry's lawyers said the late Queen Elizabeth knew NGN had been spying on her family and their friends and authorised her staff to seek a resolution.
The prince's legal team also said his brother Prince William, the heir to the throne, settled a case against NGN, the British newspaper arm of News Corp, in 2020.
On Friday, Sherborne cited an email from a lawyer to Harry in 2018, in response to Harry's request for an update on discussions, which stated: "The ball is with Murdoch."
Harry asked the court to order NGN to search for emails sent between royal staff and executives including Thomson and Rebekah Brooks, head of Murdoch's UK subsidiary.
Judge Timothy Fancourt ruled that NGN should provide some further documents, including any proposal by News Corp that was sent to royal staff.
Fancourt also quoted from documents recently filed by Harry's lawyers, which said Harry will argue at trial that his father "acted to discourage and stymie him" from suing NGN.
TRIAL IN JANUARY?
A trial of Harry and Watson's case is listed for January, though Sherborne has previously said claimants could be forced to settle because they could be left with huge legal bills if they rejected a settlement offer, even if they won at trial.
He made the remarks after British actor Hugh Grant reluctantly settled his case in April.
NGN has never faced a trial of a lawsuit relating to the phone-hacking scandal, which emerged more than a decade ago and prompted a public inquiry and several criminal prosecutions.
The publisher has paid out hundreds of millions of pounds to victims of phone hacking and other unlawful information gathering by the News of the World and settled claims brought by more than 1,300 celebrities, politicians, athletes and ordinary people who were connected to them or major events.
NGN has always rejected allegations of any wrongdoing by staff at the Sun, though it has paid damages to settle cases involving claims levelled against the tabloid's journalists.
Last year, Fancourt ruled that Harry's case against NGN could not include phone-hacking allegations, but that accusations about "blagging" – obtaining confidential details about him by deception – and using other unlawful invasions of privacy could proceed.
The claimants also unsuccessfully tried to personally drag Murdoch into the case. However, allegations against other senior figures including Washington Post publisher Will Lewis, a former top NGN executive, remain.
Reporting by Sam Tobin and Michael Holden
Editing by Paul Sandle, Angus MacSwan, Frances Kerry and Christina Fincher
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