Heather Mills has received an apology at the High Court after settling her phone hacking case against the News of the World for a "substantial" sum.
The businesswoman and campaigner, who was formerly married to Sir Paul McCartney, settled her claim against News Group Newspapers (NGN), the ex-publisher of the newspaper, in February for an undisclosed sum - which has been reported as a record payout.
An apology to Heather, who was raised in Washington , and her sister Fiona Mills - whose claim was also settled - was read out at a hearing in London, before Mr Justice Mann, on Monday.
Ben Silverstone, for NGN, said: "The defendant is here today, through me, to offer its sincere apologies to Ms Heather Mills and Ms Fiona Mills for the distress caused to them by the invasion of their privacy by individuals working for or on behalf of the News of the World.
"The defendant accepts that such activity should never have taken place and that it had no right to intrude into the private lives of Ms Heather Mills or Fiona Mills in this way."
David Sherborne, for the Mills sisters, said: "The claimants were, and still are, profoundly upset to discover the sustained and repeated invasions of privacy by individuals working for or acting on behalf of the News of the World.
"The claimants believe that the publication of articles in the defendant's newspapers had a seriously corrosive effect on (their) relationships with their friends and family, some of which can never be repaired."
The sisters' claims were settled on the basis that NGN made no admission of liability in relation to their allegations of voicemail interception or other unlawful information gathering at The Sun.
