Harry had presented the lawsuit as a moral crusade and a legal reckoning for Rupert Murdoch’s media empire. In the end, he joined hundreds of other claimants in agreeing to avoid a full trial.

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

Prince Harry claimed a monumental victory Wednesday as Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. tabloids made an unprecedented apology for intruding in his life over decades and agreed to pay substantial damages to settle his privacy invasion lawsuit.

The case, which would represent the last major legal reckoning for victims and perpetrators of Britain’s phone hacking scandal, was adjourned until Wednesday.