LONDON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Prince Harry has settled his

lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN)

over alleged unlawful information gathering, his lawyer said on

Wednesday, after the start of a long-awaited trial was

unexpectedly delayed.

Harry, 40, the younger son of King Charles, was suing the

publisher of the Sun and the now-defunct News of the World at

the High Court in London, alleging NGN unlawfully obtained

private information about him from 1996 until 2011.

His lawyer said that a deal had been reached to settle the

lawsuit.