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.

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.

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 offered a “full and unequivocal apology” to Harry for the “serious intrusion” into his private life by the Sun between 1996 and 2011.

Prince Harry has agreed to settle his lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch's British tabloids. The deal ends a years' long battle to hold the newspapers accountable for invasions of privacy.

Prince Harry wins court battle against Rupert Murdoch's newspaper, receiving substantial damages and an apology for illegal activities by The Sun.

Harry won an apology and damages from Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. tabloids. Could the lawsuit’s end also help heal the rift with his brother, William, and his father, King Charles III?

Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers gave Harry an “unequivocal apology,” admitting for the first time to unlawful activities at The Sun and agreeing to pay what it called substantial damages.

Harry received an unprecedented apology from Rupert Murdoch’s flagship U.K. tabloid on Wednesday, and previously won in a court judgment that condemned the publishers of the Daily Mirror for “widespread and habitual” phone hacking.

The prince got his long-sought apology from the UK tabloid publisher, and Murdoch gets to avoid a potentially embarrassing trial.

While few people have received an apology from a Murdoch-owned publication, Prince Harry now has. But if you think this is the end of the long legal saga, you may well be wrong.