LONDON — The lawsuit filed by Prince Harry against The Sun came to a pivotal conclusion on Wednesday when the newspaper’s publisher issued an apology for “serious intrusion” and unlawful activities that took place over a span of 15 years.

The resolution of this case, which includes a significant financial compensation for Harry, marks another chapter in the long-standing legal battles surrounding the aggressive tactics employed by the British press during a time when tabloids enjoyed massive circulation and heavily influenced public discourse.

This scandal led to the demise of the News of the World, which was owned by Rupert Murdoch, costing the media magnate hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements from individuals affected by the tabloid’s intrusive practices. The incident also intensified Harry’s efforts to hold the British media accountable, which he believes has caused rifts within his family, negatively impacted his life, and targeted both his late mother, Princess Diana, and his wife, Meghan Markle.

Significant events in this saga transpired over the years:

In November 2005, Murdoch’s News of the World reported on Prince William’s knee injury. Following a complaint from Buckingham Palace, a police investigation uncovered that the source of the information was a hacked voicemail.

By January 2007, Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator for the News of the World, was sentenced to six months in prison, alongside royal editor Clive Goodman, who received four months for illegally accessing the phones of royal aides. Goodman later confessed to hacking William’s phone 35 times and that of Kate Middleton, William’s then-girlfriend, over 150 times.

Initially, Murdoch’s organization claimed that only two rogue employees were responsible for these violations, acting without the knowledge of their superiors. However, investigations continued, and in January 2011, British authorities reopened a case into phone hacking at the tabloids after the News of the World indicated it had uncovered “significant new information.”

The following April, the newspaper publicly admitted its involvement in phone hacking and later paid actress Sienna Miller £100,000 to settle her lawsuit against them. Since then, Murdoch’s company has reached settlements with numerous public figures over similar hacking allegations related to both the News of the World and its affiliate publication, The Sun, although it has never accepted liability concerning The Sun.

In July 2011, a report by The Guardian revealed that journalists had hacked the phone of Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old murder victim, during active police investigations. The public’s outrage over this revelation led to the closure of the 168-year-old News of the World.

A judge-led inquiry ordered by then-Prime Minister David Cameron in late 2012 found that the press had behaved in “outrageous” ways that greatly disrupted the lives of innocent individuals, endorsing the creation of a robust press regulatory body, though many of the recommendations have yet to be fully enacted.

In October 2013, key figures from the News of the World, including former editors Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks, faced trial for phone hacking and illegal payments to officials. After an extensive eight-month trial, Coulson was sentenced to 18 months in prison, while Brooks was acquitted and is currently the chief executive of Murdoch’s newspaper enterprises in the UK.

By December 2015, England’s chief prosecutor announced that there would be no further criminal cases against Murdoch’s company or its employees regarding these issues, although the companies continued to resolve numerous hacking lawsuits.

Beginning in 2019, Prince Harry initiated legal actions against three different newspaper groups, claiming that stories regarding his formative years and relationships had been acquired through illegal means, including hacking.

In February 2021, Meghan Markle, Harry’s wife, achieved a victory in a privacy lawsuit against Associated Newspapers concerning the publication of a personal letter she had written.

In June 2023, Harry became the first British royal to testify in more than a century in his case against the Mirror Group. Later, in December 2023, he was awarded legal costs and £140,000 in damages after a judge recognized that Mirror newspapers had engaged in unlawful practices for many years.

February 2024 saw the Mirror Group settle by agreeing to pay Harry undisclosed damages and legal expenses, leading him to express feelings of vindication and commitment to continue his mission against press misconduct.

A trial was set to start on January 21, 2025, as Harry, alongside former Labour Party MP Tom Watson, pressed charges against The Sun, with Harry anticipated to testify that coming February. This case was delayed as both sides engaged in settlement discussions, eventually leading to a settlement announced on January 22, 2025. The publisher voiced a “full and unequivocal apology” for serious intrusions into Harry’s life between 1996 and 2011, acknowledging unlawful actions carried out by private investigators.

Harry’s legal battle with Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Daily Mail, continues as he seeks further accountability within the press.