Prince Harry recently won a major apology from Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. newspaper division, including for his mother. However, the company stopped short of an apology for Meghan Markle via Newsweek.
The Duke of Sussex had accused The Sun of using a private investigator to illegally obtain Meghan’s call records and flight details at the start of their relationship in 2016. The claim was a small part of a wider case alleging years of illegality at the daily tabloid and its now-defunct Sunday stablemate, the News of the World, both published by News Group Newspapers (NGN).
Harry had settled out of court on Wednesday for a mega payout, reportedly upwards of £10 million—along with an apology not only to him, but also to Princess Diana.
However, a notable absence from the company’s statement was any mention of Meghan.
“NGN offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the serious intrusion by The Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun.
“NGN further apologises to the Duke for the impact on him of the extensive coverage and serious intrusion into his private life as well as the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, in particular during his younger years.
“We acknowledge and apologise for the distress caused to the Duke, and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages.”
The statement does not mention Meghan by name, but its admission of unlawful activity ranges from 1996 to 2011, stopping short of 2016, when the stories about Meghan were published. In a 2023 witness statement to the court, Prince Harry stated that The Sun instructed an American private investigator “to obtain private information in the form of a report about my new relationship with Meghan.
“This information, which included highly sensitive information such as her social security number (and other details about her and her family), was unlawfully obtained by [the private investigator] in the full knowledge of the editors of The Sun.
