Britain's best-selling Sun newspaper apologized to Queen Elizabeth II on its front page Monday for breaking an embargo on her Christmas message to her subjects.
The tabloid Sun, enfant terrible of the British newspaper world, said it also planned to offer $283,200 to the Save the Children Fund, which has the queen's daughter Princess Anne as its patron.Buckingham Palace said last Tuesday the queen would sue the Sun for breach of copyright on the Christmas speech, in which the queen spoke of her family's "difficult days" during 1992.
The newspaper had vowed to fight any court action, but its assistant editor, Chris Davis, said the decision to apologize was made its media tycoon owner, Rupert Murdoch.
"He feels that the time is right for The Sun to make a handsome and gracious gesture to the queen to apologize to her," Davis said.
"We don't want her to sue us in the courts . . . We did something which a lot of people think was a little bit sneaky and we're big enough to take it and hold our hands up and say, "OK, your majesty, if we upset you, we are very sorry.' "
Buckingham Palace said it was considering the newspaper's proposals, while the Save the Children Fund said it needed more information about the offer before it made any decision.
The Sun was at the forefront of last year's controversial tabloid coverage of the separation of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and his wife Princess Diana.
The apology came on the day that Sky Television, another branch of the Murdoch empire, screened a film version of "Diana: Her True Story," a book which caused a sensation last year by portraying a suicidal princess locked in a loveless marriage.
The queen was angered at the end of what she called her "annus horribilis" (horrible year) when the Sun broke the embargo on her royal message.
"We accept that, unintentionally, we caused you personal offense by publishing your Christ-mas message two days in advance. We regret that," the Sun said in its apology in the form of an open letter.
"We appreciate that you are the head of our national family. And many felt our action was like opening their annual Christmas present from you 48 hours early."