Rupert Murdoch made secret 'large sum' payment to Prince William over phone hacking scandal

British throne heir Prince William secretly received a "very large sum of money" in 2020 thanks to a settlement from Rupert Murdoch’s media empire for phone hacking, Fortune reported.

In his lawsuit against the publisher of The Sun and now-defunct News Of The World, Prince Harry’s lawyer revealed the payment while making the case that the lawsuit should not be thrown out. According to the suit, the newspapers unlawfully gathered information for two decades.

Murdoch-owned News Group Newspapers is arguing the suit should be thrown out because it was brought too late. Harry claims that the secret agreement between the royal family and the newspapers that called for a settlement and apology was the reason for the delay.

“It is important to bear in mind that in responding to this bid by NGN to prevent his claims going to trial, (Harry) has had to make public the details of this secret agreement, as well as the fact that his brother, His Royal Highness Prince William, has recently settled his claim against NGN behind the scenes,” attorney David Sherborne wrote. “This is used very much by (Harry) as ‘a shield not a sword’ against NGN’s attack.”

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