Prince Harry's calls for a new criminal investigation into Rupert Murdoch's U.K. news division will likely be ignored, a British media lawyer told Newsweek.
The Duke of Sussex last week won an apology and a reported eight-figure out-of-court settlement from tabloid The Sun, bringing to an end a marathon six-year legal battle.
Harry accused the newspaper's journalists of breaking the law to access his private information in pursuit of stories about his love life, including in relation to past girlfriend Chelsy Davy, as well as wife Meghan Markle.
He also got a key acknowledgement that private investigators working for the tabloid acted unlawfully. The prince's lawyer, David Sherborne, commended his battle outside court on Wednesday and pushed for a police investigation into the saga.
However, Mark Stephens, a U.K.-based lawyer with Howard Kennedy, told Newsweek he believes the royal will not be able to persuade police to launch a new investigation.
"No, I don't think he will," Stephens said. "One can understand on a human level why he wants that revenge but it just isn't going to happen. It's not in the public interest.
"It's in the public interest to spend the money on higher priority concerns of today."
Stephens pointed to the fact the Metropolitan Police have investigated News Group Newspapers before, including for phone hacking and payments made to public officials.
The investigations had mixed results, with some journalists and even executives at the now defunct Sunday tabloid the News of the World going to prison for phone hacking.
However, Rebekah Brooks, the current chief executive of the company, now known as News UK, was acquitted at the end of a high profile trial in 2014.
A separate investigation into corrupt payments at The Sun saw public officials jailed, but all of the guilty verdicts passed down on its journalists were overturned on appeal, leaving detectives with no major victories against staff at The Sun specifically.
At points, there were complaints within the Metropolitan Police that officers were being diverted from counter-terror investigations to probe journalists.
"They spent significant resources and money on bringing the prosecutions," Stephens said. "They have other priorities, like terrorists being radicalized, that are going to take priority over this now that its become clear that phone hacking and unlawful news gathering has been terminated.
"They've done a massive investigation and they've spent millions on that investigation and the prosecutions. Nine people were found guilty. I don't think there's the appetite to re-visit something that is a problem of the past rather than the future."
Harry argues that unlawful practices continued for longer than commonly thought, but even his most recent allegation dates back to 2016—now nine years ago.
That claim related to Meghan's call and flight records during the period immediately after their relationship was first announced. It has always been denied by the company.
News Group Newspapers did not apologize to Meghan and instead described a problem said to have stopped some 14 years ago: "NGN offers a full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the serious intrusion by The Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun."
Police have so far asked to see transcripts of pre-trial hearings in the long build up to the settlement agreement, The Guardian reported.
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said last week in a statement released to Newsweek: "We are aware of the outcome of the civil proceedings. It remains the case that there are no active police investigations into allegations of phone hacking or related matters.
"We await any correspondence from the parties involved, which we will respond to in due course."
After the settlement was agreed, Sherborne read a statement outside the High Court, in London: "The rule of law must now run its full course. Prince Harry and Tom Watson join others in calling for the police and Parliament to investigate not only the unlawful activity now finally admitted, but the perjury and cover ups along the way.
"Its clear now this has occurred throughout this process, including through sworn evidence in inquiries and court hearings, and in testimony to Parliament, until today's final collapse of NGN's defence."
Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
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