Prince Harry and other prominent individuals have been ordered by London’s High Court to make an interim payment of £9.54 million ($17.9 million Cdn) towards the legal expenses of the Daily Mail’s publisher following the dismissal of their privacy lawsuits. Judge Matthew Nicklin recently rejected the case brought by Prince Harry and several others, dismissing allegations of unlawful activities like phone hacking by the Mail titles.
Among the high-profile personalities suing Associated Newspapers were singer Elton John and his Canadian spouse, David Furnish, as well as actors Sadie Frost and Elizabeth Hurley. Other claimants included former Liberal Democratic MP Simon Hughes and Doreen Lawrence, known for her anti-racism activism following her son Stephen’s tragic killing in 1993.
Nicklin criticized the claimants’ case, stating that serious allegations were based on speculative and inferential grounds, leading him to deem their conduct as unreasonable to a significant degree. The ruling mandates the outstanding amount to be paid on an “indemnity basis,” implying that as the losing party, Prince Harry and the others must contribute towards Associated’s legal costs without proof of reasonableness or proportionality being required from the publisher.
During a hearing in July, it was revealed that Associated had accrued a legal bill of £34.5 million ($64.7 million Cdn), while the claimants only had an insurance coverage of £16 million ($30 million Cdn). Nicholas Bacon, the claimants’ lawyer, highlighted that Associated’s legal expenses were excessive, surpassing the agreed budget.
No decision has been made yet on a possible appeal by the claimants. Prince Harry’s spokesperson refrained from commenting on the ruling. The prince previously criticized the court loss as a “complete and obvious whitewash.” Furthermore, Prince Harry and Meghan recently announced their plans to return to the UK for their children’s education after residing in southern California for the past six years.
This legal battle was the final outstanding litigation in a series of lawsuits initiated by Harry against tabloid publishers for alleged unlawful tactics. Earlier, Harry was awarded £140,600 (about $240,430 Cdn) due to being a victim of phone-hacking and other illicit information gathering by journalists at Britain’s Mirror Group Newspapers.
In a separate major case, Rupert Murdoch’s News Group in the UK issued a formal apology to Prince Harry for the phone hacking and privacy breaches conducted by journalists and private investigators. However, the court dismissed claims of a secret deal between Murdoch’s newspaper group and Buckingham Palace to prevent royals from pursuing such lawsuits.
In a significant development, Prince Harry became the first British royal in 130 years to provide evidence at a trial in 2023, testifying in this case. The court’s decision and related documents can be accessed through the provided links.
