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Prince Harry could potentially receive a massive payout as part of his settlement in his long-running case against Rupert Murdoch’s newspaper The Sun publishers. This week, the Duke of Sussex recorded a major legal victory as Newsgroup Newspapers, the company that publishes The Sun and the now-obsolete News of the World proposed a settlement just as the involved parties primed up for a weeks-long trial. Harry previously accused the company of gathering private information about him via unlawful means between 1996 and 2011. He claimed the newspaper often employed private investigators and journalists who deployed methods like phone and email hacking.
Following his first filing in 2019, NGN denied The Sun’s involvement in these unlawful practices, taking responsibility and apologizing for News of the World. As the case dragged on, the publishers eventually admitted to the involvement of The Sun for the first time ever, prompting Prince Harry to agree to the proposed settlement for damages, along with an apology for the harm their methods caused him and his late mom Princess Diana over the years. While the apology has been well received and read in front of London’s High Court on Wednesday, Prince Harry may have a hard time securing the full payout for himself as a resident of the United States.
Prince Harry to Lose a Fraction of His Settlement After Tax Deductions
Notably, the exact amount the Duke would receive in settlement remains undisclosed. However, sources with knowledge of the court proceedings revealed the amount could hit eight figures, potentially reaching $12.44 million when converted. However, only a percentage of this said sum would end up in Harry’s possession. According to one source, parts of this amount would go into attorney’s fees and other court charges.
Thereafter, the estranged prince would have to pay the American IRS taxes required of US residents on their worldwide income. This US tax could only be exempted if it gets taxed by the UK government. However, that is most unlikely, given Harry’s home country’s policies on legal taxes. The source explained to Daily Mail,
“Here’s the sting in the tail… Legal damages are not taxed in the UK.”
By implication, Harry’s handout would be tasked in the United States, under Donald Trump’s government. After all these deductions from the settlement Prince Harry would receive from The Sun, the Duke would have a significantly lesser amount in his possession. Even so, the amount set to land on his lap hardly mattered to Prince Harry, who previously claimed his case against The Sun was more about seeking “accountability” than monetary gains.
Harry Could Face Deportation Despite Huge Taxes
This comes amid speculations that Prince Harry’s days in the United States were numbered in the wake of Trump’s reinstatement. The POTUS has been vocal about his intentions to see to it that Prince Harry gets deported from the United States if confirmed that he lied in his visa application. This followed the 40-year-old’s admission to drug use in his memoir Spare, which left many wondering how he managed to secure a US visa if indeed he ticked the box confirming his history of drug use.
The court dismissed a court filing last year by a conservative group demanding to make Harry’s immigration records public. However, with Trump in office and Joe Biden’s protection wavering, that decision can be revoked, sending the estranged prince on an odyssey back to his homeland, tail between his legs.
