Prince William accused of settling phone-hacking claim for 'very large sum'

Prince William was reportedly paid a "very large sum" by the owners of the newspaper to settle phone-hacking claims, according to court papers.

According to Harry's witness statement, the newspaper owners struck a "secret agreement" with officials at Buckingham palace to put off legal claims from members of the royal family.

The claims come when William's younger brother Harry is suing the publisher over alleged unlawful information gathering.

The payment in 2020 was revealed in papers from Prince Harry's lawyers as part of his legal action against News Group Newspapers at the High Court, according to reports. It was not disclosed in the documents that how much amount William was paid to settle the historic claims.

However, a spokesman for the Prince of Wales, according to BBC, has refused to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.

Harry's lawyers claim that that alleged agreement, the details of which has not been disclosed in court, had delayed the Duke from bringing his own case.

The Duke says that he first became aware of the alleged deal in around 2012. At that time, he learnt that royal staff were starting legal action for phone hacking - and he believed he and his brother had been personally targeted too.

William and Harry, when they consulted top solicitor of the Firm, were told that they could not begin their own legal action.

"The rationale behind this was that a secret agreement had been reached between the institution and senior executives at News Group Newspapers, whereby members of the Royal Family would bring phone hacking claims only at the conclusion of [all other cases] and at that stage the claims would be admitted or settled with an apology," the statement said.

"The reason for this was to avoid the situation where a member of the royal family would have to sit in the witness box and recount the specific details of the private and highly-sensitive voicemails that had been intercepted."

Meghan Markle's hubby said courtiers were "incredibly nervous" about a repeat of the damaging disclosure of an intimate phone call between his father and Camilla, which had been intercepted and published at a time when King Charles was still married to Princess Diana.

"This agreement, including the promises from NGN for delayed resolution was, obviously, a major factor as to why no claim was brought by me at that time," said Prince Harry. NGN denies any deal existed.

Some royal experts and fans fear that the revelations could damage a reconciliation efforts between the royal family and the Sussexes, particularly when Harry has confirmed to attend  King Charles' coronation in May.