Prince Harry and six others to pay £9.5m in legal costs

Prince Harry and six other well-known individuals are to pay an initial £9.5 million towards the legal costs of Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail. The order follows the dismissal of their claims alleging unlawful information gathering.

Mr Justice Nicklin issued the costs ruling on Friday at the High Court. The group, which also includes Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Sadie Frost, Liz Hurley, and Sir Simon Hughes, had brought claims against ANL. The publisher denied the allegations.

Claims dismissed after trial

ANL's defence against the claims, which were heard over an 11-week trial in London earlier this year, was successful. Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed all the cases in a judgment delivered on 7 July. The matter then returned to the High Court for a two-day hearing specifically concerning the legal costs incurred.

During the costs hearing, the court was informed that ANL's total legal expenses for the litigation amounted to more than £34 million. ANL had requested an interim payment of over £9.9 million from the claimants before the full assessment of costs. Lawyers representing the claimants argued for an interim payment of just over £7.9 million.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Nicklin described the claims brought against Associated Newspapers as “speculative and substantially inferential” and stated they “lacked a proper evidential foundation”. The judge also ruled that the Mail publisher could pursue further costs.

Associated Newspapers Limited issued a statement following the ruling, calling the costs judgment “a devastating critique of an attempt to destroy a newspaper and the reputations of its journalists, editors and executives”.

The court has ordered the group of claimants to make the initial £9.5 million payment. The full assessment of the remaining legal costs will be determined in subsequent hearings.