UPDATED 06.42 a.m. PT: There has been high drama on the first day in the trial of Prince Harry versus Rupert Murdoch ‘s News Group Newspapers (NGN), with a settlement deal now “very close,” according to NGN’s lawyer.

The trial in Duke of Sussex’s long-running case against the Rupert Murdoch-owned 'The Sun' newspaper was set to begin in London on Jan. 21 Simon Perry is a writer and correspondent at PEOPLE.

News Group Newspapers offered an “unequivocal apology” to the prince for serious intrusion into his private life, as well as that of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.

Rupert Murdoch's team made the offer to resolve the hacking suits from Prince Harry and a British lawmaker as a trial was to begin. A settlement could help Washington Post CEO Will Lewis.

A legal battle brought by Prince Harry against the publisher of The Sun newspaper, owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, kicked off at the High Court in London on Tuesday, without Prince Harry in attendance and with several delays.

LONDON — Opening arguments are set to start Tuesday in a trial over complaints filed by Prince Harry and a senior British lawmaker against Rupert Murdoch's London tabloid newspapers. It carries high stakes on both sides of the Atlantic. "I'm the last ...

The deal means that Harry will not be able to seek a court ruling validating his allegations that News Group Newspapers' journalists went to illegal extremes to dig up dirt on his life and that executives at the company helped cover up the bad acts.

LONDON (Reuters) - Prince Harry claimed victory in his long-running legal battle against Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper group, after reaching a deal to settle his lawsuit which included an apology for unlawful actions relating to the Sun for the first time.

Prince Harry had taken legal action against NGN at the High Court in London, alleging that its journalists had illegally gathered private information about him between 1996-2011.

Prince Harry was suing News Group Newspapers over alleged unlawful activities carried out by journalists and private investigators working for its papers, The Sun and the now defunct News of the World,

Rupert Murdoch shut down his News of the World tabloid after revelations about hacking, but his News Group Newspapers has denied broader wrongdoing at that outlet or any wrongdoing at the Sun tabloid. (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg/Getty Images)