The legal saga between Britain's Prince Harry and the British tabloids has stalled due to settlement negotiations, ahead of a high-stakes trial against Rupert Murdoch's newspapers. Prince Harry, the 40-year-old younger son of King Charles III, is one of two remaining claimants, among hundreds who have settled with News Group, still pursuing litigation. They accuse News Group's The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World of illegally intercepting phone calls and illegally intruding into their lives.

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This would be the first trial against the publisher since a massive phone hacking scandal forced Murdoch to shut down News of the World in 2011. News Group has previously settled over 1,300 other claims. The trial, originally scheduled to begin Tuesday morning, was delayed until the afternoon to allow for private discussions between the parties for an out-of-court settlement.

When Judge Timothy Fancourt refused to extend the delay to Wednesday, lawyers for both sides said they would challenge the decision in the Court of Appeal, effectively pausing the start of the trial. News Group's lawyer, Anthony Hudson, stated that productive discussions had taken place and that the trial would involve "very substantial sums of money" if it began before they completed "very intense negotiations."

For the Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry, this would be his second trial in London’s High Court in his long-standing feud with the media. He blames the media for contributing to the death of his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash while being pursued by paparazzi. He also accuses the media of persistently attacking his wife, actress Meghan Markle, leading them to abandon royal life and flee to the United States in 2020.

Harry has stated that his mission to hold the media accountable has caused rifts with his family, but he feels it is necessary to continue in order to expose wrongdoing. He won a similar case against the publisher of the Daily Mirror in 2023, and also has a case pending against the publisher of the Daily Mail.

Harry alleges that journalists at News Group and private investigators they hired illegally mined his and his family’s private information between 1996 and 2011, violating his privacy. His fellow claimant, former Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, says his voicemails were intercepted while he was investigating the hacking scandal. Their lawyers say the papers routinely used deception to obtain medical, phone, and flight records, bugged homes, and installed listening devices in cars.

They also accuse executives of covering up these wrongdoings, including by destroying documents. “These allegations are false, unsubstantiated and are strongly denied,” News Group said in a statement. Former executives accused of involvement include current Washington Post CEO Will Lewis, and News UK CEO Rebekah Brooks. Both have denied any wrongdoing.

Brooks was acquitted in a 2014 criminal trial of conspiracy to hack phones, but her former colleague Andy Coulson, who later became a spokesman for then-Prime Minister David Cameron, was jailed. News Group strongly denies the allegations and says Harry failed to file his suit within the six-year statute of limitations he was required to. News Group apologized in 2011 to victims of News of the World's phone hacking. The Sun has never admitted liability.

Actor Hugh Grant, who had been one of Harry’s remaining co-claimants, said he was forced to accept a “huge sum of money” to settle because he could have faced £10 million ($19.7 million) in legal fees even if he had won at trial. Under British civil law, if claimants win a court judgment for less than the amount they were offered to settle, they must pay both sides' legal fees. The law is designed to discourage lengthy trials.

Despite the significant financial risk, Harry told the New York Times Dealbook summit in December that he wouldn’t back down. “They settle because they have to settle,” he said, speaking about other claimants. “One of the main reasons for sticking it out is to hold them accountable, because I’m one of the last people who is actually able to do that.”

The trial, which is expected to last 10 weeks, would see Harry take the stand for several days again in February. In 2023, Harry became the first senior royal to testify in court since the late 19th century, when Queen Victoria's eldest son, Prince Albert Edward, testified twice. This set Harry apart from his family, who are known for their “never complain, never explain” attitude.

Harry revealed in court documents that his father opposed his litigation. He also said his older brother, William, the Prince of Wales and heir to the throne, had received a "huge sum" to settle his complaints against News Group. Harry said his war against the tabloids was at the heart of his rift with his family. “The mission continues, but it has, as you say, created a partial rift,” Harry said in the documentary, "Trial by Tabloid."

Harry said he wished his family would stand with him against the media's illegal actions. “But, you know, I’m doing this for a reason,” he said.

News Group has failed to block the case for the past two years, but Harry has suffered some setbacks in some sometimes frustrating hearings. The publisher successfully got Harry's phone hacking claims thrown out because a judge said he should have been aware of the well-publicized scandal and could have filed his suit earlier. The judge also dismissed Harry’s efforts to expand the scope of the case to include allegations about the hacking of his mother, mining of his wife's private information, and implicating Murdoch.

Harry claimed that Murdoch, as chief executive of the company that controlled NGN, was involved in covering up evidence of hacking, or was "willfully blind" to it. The judge said the allegations would not add anything substantial to allegations against other "trusted lieutenants" including Brooks and Murdoch's younger son, James Murdoch. The judge also dismissed Harry’s request to include claims that there was a secret agreement between Buckingham Palace and News Group executives for a settlement and apology after other phone hacking lawsuits were resolved.

Judge Timothy Fancourt said Harry failed to provide witnesses or documents to show that his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, had approved the deal to protect the royal family from embarrassing litigation. The publisher has denied that any secret agreement existed.