According to court filings, the owners of The Sun paid Prince William a “very large sum” to settle prior phone-hacking charges.

The documents were presented at a High Court hearing in which Prince Harry is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN) for alleged illegal information gathering.

They claim a “secret agreement” existed between Buckingham Palace and NGN that barred Harry from filing a claim.

NGN, on the other hand, claims Harry has run out of time and denies any arrangement ever existed.

The lawsuit is one of three main charges of illegal information collecting made by the Duke of Sussex against tabloid publications, the other two involving the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail groups.

He claims that information revealed during the criminal prosecutions connected to phone hacking at the now-defunct News of the World proves he was serially targeted by The Sun’s sister title.