Prince Harry and six other high-profile figures have been ordered by the UK High Court to pay more than £9.5 million to the publisher of the Daily Mail following their failed legal action.
The group, which includes Elton John, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and David Furnish, sued Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over allegations of unlawful information-gathering. ANL strongly denied the claims.
The case was heard during an 11-week trial in London earlier this year before Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed all the claims in a ruling delivered on July 7.
The parties returned to the High Court for a two-day hearing to determine legal costs. The court was told that ANL’s total costs had exceeded £34 million.
In a judgment issued on Friday, August 21, Justice Nicklin ordered the seven claimants to pay £9,544,355 by August 28 as an initial contribution towards ANL’s legal costs, pending further hearings to determine the final amount.
The judge also ruled that ANL’s costs should generally be assessed on an indemnity basis, which allows the publisher to recover a higher proportion of its legal expenses.
ANL had sought an interim payment of more than £9.9 million, while lawyers representing the claimants, including Sadie Frost, Liz Hurley and Sir Simon Hughes, argued that the payment should be slightly above £7.9 million.
The latest ruling comes amid reports that Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, are expected to spend an extended period in the UK.
