LONDON — Prince Harry settled his lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch's British tabloids on Wednesday, accepting damages and an apology from News Group Newspapers over years of phone hacking and other unlawful intrusion . The company has also apologized to a second claimant, former Labour Party politician Tom Watson, now Lord Watson.

Prince Harry won a major apology from Rupert Murdoch 's U.K. newspaper division, including for his mother—but the company stopped short of an apology for Meghan Markle.

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.

Prince Harry’s yearslong legal battle against Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper group took an unexpected turn on Wednesday, after the duke settled his case before the trial was due to get underway.

Prince Harry and his legal team have struck a last-minute settlement deal with a newspaper group for invasion of privacy — the same week the case was set to go trial.

Prince Harry has settled with Rupert Murdoch's NGN and received an apology over The Sun and News of the World claims.

Harry pulled the plug on a high stakes lawsuit against a Rupert Murdoch-owned British tabloid after receiving an apology.

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.

News Group Newspapers acknowledged its private investigators and journalists targeted Harry with phone hacking, surveillance, and misuse of private information.

Harry had vowed to take his case to trial to publicly expose the newspaper’s wrongdoing and win a court ruling upholding his claims.

In a rare move, Rupert Murdoch’s tabloids have apologized for intruding on the life of Prince Harry. The Associated Press called it an “unprecedented apology,” which was made along with “substantial damages” paid to the prince for years of spying on his private life.