Prince Harry settles lawsuit against Murdoch's UK tabloids with 'substantial' damages

Prince Harry has settled his lawsuit against News Group Newspapers, the Rupert Murdoch-owned company that publishes The Sun and previously published now-defunct News of The World.

The settlement, announced Wednesday, included a "full and unequivocal" apology and admission of wrongdoing from NGN. The news company apologized for its actions, saying it made a "serious intrusion" into Harry's private life between 1996 and 2011, "including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun."

The media company said it would pay a "substantial" amount of damages to Harry.

"We acknowledge and apologise for the distress caused to the Duke, and the damage inflicted on relationships, friendships and family, and have agreed to pay him substantial damages," NGN said in an apology statement.

Harry was joined in the lawsuit by Tom Watson, a U.K. lawmaker. The pair welcomed the "monumental victory" settlement agreement, which amounted to a "historic admission of unlawfulness at The Sun," their lawyer, barrister David Sherborne, said in front of the Royal Courts of Justice, Britain's High Court, in London.

"Today the lies are laid bare," he said. "Today, the cover-ups are exposed. And today proves that no one stands above the law. The time for accountability has arrived. Thank you very much."

The settlement ends a legal fight that began in 2019 when Harry, the youngest child of King Charles III and the late Princess Diana, sued NGN over alleged illegal information gathering that dated back to the 1990s and 2000s.

In the lawsuit, Harry alleged that journalists at The Sun gathered information on him illegally, and hired private detectives to do so. He also claimed in the suit that senior executives at The Sun knew about the alleged illegal information gathering and covered it up.

NGN apologized on Wednesday for "phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them at the News of the World."

"NGN further apologises to the Duke for the impact on him of the extensive coverage and serious intrusion into his private life as well as the private life of Diana, Princess of Wales, his late mother, in particular during his younger years," the media company says.

Leading up to the trial, NGN had strongly refuted Harrys claims.

Harry's settlement with NGN was announced just one day after the start of the trial in London's High Court.

On Tuesday, the lawyer for Harry -- who lives in California and did not attend the trial's opening day -- asked for an hours adjournment, which was followed by additional requests for delays from both Harry's and NGN's legal teams.

In one request for additional time, NGN's lawyer Anthony Hudson KC said there had been "intense negotiations" between the two legal teams for the past few days.

Both parties are in complete agreement The number of times the parties have been in agreement in this litigation are very few and far between," Hudson said in his request.

Harry spoke about the upcoming trial as recently as December, saying he wanted accountability.

"The goal is accountability. It's really that simple," Harry told an audience at the New York Times' DealBook Summit in December.

Had the trial continued, Harry was expected to testify in-person in February.

ABC News' Zoe Magee contributed to this report.