Claims of a secret £1 million payment have left hopes that princes Harry and William will bury the hatchet and reconcile for their father's coronation "in tatters", it is being claimed.
This week the High Court heard that the Prince of Wales allegedly received a secret payment from Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers company in relation to phone-hacking allegations .
Details of the alleged private payment to the heir-to-the-throne - for what the court was told was a "very large sum of money" - were made public - by his brother, the Duke of Sussex, reports The Express.
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The allegation was made in court documents on Tuesday during a three-day hearing in London involving Harry, and actor Hugh Grant . The Duke is suing News Group Newspapers (NGN), publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News Of The World, over alleged unlawful information gathering.
Harry claims the alleged payment - which The Telegraph 'understands' to have been of around £1 million - proves there was a "secret agreement" made between the Royal household and News Group Newspapers (NGN). The prince said the agreement was made, in part, to help rehabilitate the Queen.
He also alleged that Queen Elizabeth II was personally involved in the pact, but said he could bring his own case against News Group Newspapers. However, Prince William was reportedly "completely unaware" of the contents of his brother’s witness statement.
And the £1m bombshell claim was dropped just 10 days before their father's coronation. The Telegraph is now reporting that it has left "Coronation peace hopes in tatters".
It says "sources close to both the Sussexes and the Waleses" are saying they do "not expect any rapprochement" between the brothers for the coronation.
It comes as the BBC reports that "any suggestion of a cosy deal between Prince William and newspapers over hacking would be wide of the mark and that he had been vigilant about wanting to tackle it".
The BBC's sources say it was WIlliam who first highlighted the issue of alleged voicemail hacking back in 2005, after having his own battles with the press. The BBC's sources also said that settlements can often be something pushed by the courts, rather than something pursued by a claimant.
However, Sky News suggests the Prince of Wales "chose" to settle out of court, rather than potentially give evidence. A report by the broadcaster's Royal correspondent Laura Bundock said this meant "private and potentially sensitive details" about Wiliam would not be revealed".
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