Prince Harry Is Ending Relationship With Prince William With Secret Payout Claim: Report

Prince William and Prince Harry's relationship may be damaged beyond repair after the Duke of Sussex's latest claims about his older brother, according to a report.

In documents filed as part of his lawsuit against News Group Newspapers (NGN) for alleged unlawful information-gathering, Prince Harry claimed that Prince William quietly received "a very large sum of money" in a 2020 phone hacking settlement from the British newspaper arm of Rupert Murdoch's media empire and accused his brother of being part of an alleged deal between his family and his media tormentors.

An unnamed "friend" of Prince William told the Daily Beast that the Prince of Wales will likely never forgive his younger sibling for what he did. International Business Times could not independently verify this information.

"Just when you think it can't get any worse, it does," the friend claimed. "This is scorched earth stuff from Harry. By revealing these secrets, he is burning everything to the ground. He is making it very clear that he considers his relationship with William is over."

When asked about the royal's reaction to Prince Harry's witness statement, of which he had no warning, the alleged friend told the outlet that Prince William will never trust his brother again.

"William will never trust Harry again. How could he? The truth is William absolutely hates Harry now and will never forgive him for the damage he has done to the family," the insider claimed. "The brothers were so close when they were younger that it is just incredible to those of us who knew them back then that they have reached a stage where Harry is revealing his brother's confidential legal settlements."

The alleged payout was revealed in a summary of arguments presented by Prince Harry's lawyer about why the royal's lawsuit against NGN shouldn't be thrown out. The duke's attorney David Sherborne said Prince Harry used the settlement "as 'a shield not a sword' against NGN's attack," the Associated Press reported.

The Duke of Sussex is suing the publisher of The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World over alleged unlawful information-gathering, including phone hacking.

NGN is trying to have the phone hacking lawsuits by Prince Harry and by actor Hugh Grant thrown out at a three-day hearing in London, which started Tuesday, arguing that the claims were brought too late.

Prince Harry alleged that he was prevented from bringing his case because of a "secret agreement" between the royal family and the newspapers that called for a settlement and apology. The deal, which he said was approved by the late Queen Elizabeth II, would have prevented future litigation from the royals.

NGN has denied the existence of any secret agreement.

British broadcaster, lawyer and politician David Mellor also believed that Prince Harry may have ruined all chances of mending his relationship with the royal family with his revelation of Prince William's alleged secret settlement with NGN.

"Harry is not only destroying his life, but he's also destroying his ability to actually be accepted back into the royal family," Mellor told co-hosts Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster on GB News. "William got a settlement of around a million pounds which, when you think about it, considering Murdoch has paid out hundreds of millions, is not excessive."