A High Court judge has ordered Prince Harry and six other public figures to meet substantial legal costs after their privacy case against the publisher of the Daily Mail failed. The seven claimants have been told to pay an initial £9.54m to Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) by next Friday, with the publisher able to seek up to £34.5m overall.
The group named alongside the Duke of Sussex are Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish, former Liberal Democrat deputy leader Sir Simon Hughes, racial justice campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence, and actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley. The claimants brought accusations of unlawful information‑gathering, which Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed on 7 July. They have until 2 October to lodge any appeal.
The judge said this was an unusual case that justified an exceptional costs order. He criticised the way the claimants presented their allegations, finding that they had not withdrawn any serious allegations even when the evidential basis was lacking, and described that approach as highly unreasonable. At the same time he expressed concern that ANL’s asserted bill of more than £34m appeared excessive and gave rise to questions about whether all of those costs were reasonably incurred.
Despite those concerns, the judge declined to set a cap on the publisher’s recoverable costs, saying a fixed ceiling would be too blunt and potentially unfair. He also ordered that ANL’s costs be assessed on an indemnity basis, which generally allows a claimant to recover a larger proportion of its legal fees, except where previous orders limited recovery.
The claimants had insurance covering up to £16.2m of ANL’s costs if they lost. With ANL saying it spent about £34.5m defending the case, the overspend beyond the insured amount could leave the claimants facing a combined bill of roughly £18m, depending on final assessments and any appeal outcomes.
ANL described the judge’s decision as a “devastating critique” of what it called an attempt to destroy the newspaper and the reputations of its journalists and executives. The publisher had sought an interim payment of more than £9.9m ahead of detailed cost hearings.
The trial featured evidence from dozens of witnesses, including the claimants themselves; Prince Harry travelled from the United States to give evidence in court. Many current and former ANL journalists and executives testified, denying allegations of illegal activity.
Sir Simon Hughes said he was disappointed and is reviewing both the substantive and costs judgments to decide whether to appeal. Prince Harry and Baroness Lawrence previously said they had come to court seeking justice and accountability and said they had not received either, calling the outcome a whitewash.
Legal commentators note the ruling is a significant win for Associated Newspapers because it removes the constraints of the previously agreed costs budget. However, experts also point out the judge’s criticism of the size of ANL’s claimed bill could be important when the publisher seeks to recover costs in detail, and the dispute over the reasonableness of individual items is likely to continue in further hearings.
