London (AFP) - Prince Harry settled Wednesday his long-running lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s UK tabloid publisher, which agreed to pay him “substantial damages” after admitting intruding into his private life, including by hacking his phone.

Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN) issued a wide-ranging apology and admission of wrongdoing, in what Harry’s lawyer David Sherborne called “a monumental victory” that underlined the need for further probes.

The publisher apologised to him for the impact of the “serious intrusion” into the private life of his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales, particularly when he was younger.

The settlement won by King Charles’s youngest son concludes a years-long legal battle over claims of unlawful practices by two of Murdoch’s newspapers – The Sun and now-shuttered News of the World.

It also avoids a High Court trial in the public spotlight, which had been due to begin Tuesday and last up to eight weeks.

“NGN offers a full and unequivocal apology… for the serious intrusion by The Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life,” an NGN statement said.

That included the unlawful activities of private investigators working for the tabloid, it said.

It also apologised for the “phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information” by journalists and private investigators working for the News of the World.

Acknowledging the damage inflicted on Harry’s “relationships, friendships and family”, it said it would pay him “substantial damages”.

- ‘Monumental victory’ -

NGN had finally been held to account for “its blatant disregard for the law”, Sherborne told journalists outside court.

“In a monumental victory today, News UK have admitted that The Sun, the flagship title for Rupert Murdoch’s UK media empire, has indeed engaged in illegal practices,” he added.

“The rule of law must now run its full course.”

Harry and co-claimant Labour politician Tom Watson had added their voices to calls for police and parliament to investigate, said Sherborne.

There had been “perjury and cover-ups along the way”, he said.

The prince and Watson, a former deputy leader of the Labour party who now sits in the House of Lords, were the last remaining claimants against NGN.

Their claim for phone hacking and unlawful practices date back more than a decade.

At the time in question, Watson was an MP and sat on a parliamentary media watchdog committee between 2009 and 2011.

Both claimants accused NGN executives of deliberately covering up the unlawful practices by deleting emails.

But in a second NGN statement later Wednesday, the publisher “strongly denied” the cover-up claims.

“Extensive evidence would have been called in trial to rebut these allegations,” it said.

Apologising to Watson, NGN agreed to pay substantial damages for “unwarranted intrusion into his private life”. But it did not admit to hacking his phone.

“Today’s settlement draws a line under the past and brings an end to this litigation,” said NGN.

- ‘Courage ’ -

Widespread phone hacking allegations against a number of British tabloids emerged in the late 2000s, prompting the launch of a public inquiry into UK press culture.

It concluded that some British newspapers had “wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people”, but critics say many of the reforms it recommended have not been implemented.

NGN apologised at the time for unlawful practices at the News of the World and closed it in 2011, while denying similar claims against The Sun.

It has since settled cases brought by around 1,300 claimants.

Before Wednesday, the publisher had already paid out around £1 billion ($1.2 billion) including legal costs, according to British media. It has never seen a case go to trial.

Dozens of the latest NGN claimants settled in recent years, including Harry’s brother and heir-to-the-throne Prince William.

Speaking outside court, Watson paid tribute to Harry’s “bravery and astonishing courage” for fighting “the big beasts of the tabloid jungle”.

He appealed to the current Labour government and police to investigate the publisher’s new admissions.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told BBC Radio the government would “work through” proposed reforms of press regulations set to be submitted by campaigners.

London’s Metropolitan Police, which investigated aspects of the hacking scandal, said there were no active investigations into the matter, but it would respond to any correspondence from the claimants.

The lawsuit was one of several Harry has pursued against UK newspaper publishers. He won a phone hacking case against Mirror Group Newspapers just over a year ago.

Having quit as a working royal in 2020, he is now based in California.

Harry had been due to give evidence during the now-scrapped trial. He was not present this week.