Prince Harry, Elton John, And Five Other Plaintiffs Will Pay The Daily Mail Millions

The final amount will be determined by a separate judicial appraisal.

The High Court in London has ordered Prince Harry and six other well-known British figures to make an advance payment of £9.54 million (about $13 million) to the publisher of *The Daily Mail*. This was reported by The New York Times.

Judge Matthew Nicklin issued the ruling on August 21—just over a month after the plaintiffs lost their case against Associated Newspapers regarding alleged invasion of privacy. The funds must be paid toward the publisher’s legal costs by August 28.

In July, a group of plaintiffs, including singer Elton John and actress Liz Hurley, failed to prove that Associated Newspapers had illegally tapped their phones or otherwise invaded their privacy between 1993 and 2011. The court’s ruling noted that the plaintiffs were unable to confirm that the relevant information had been obtained illegally.

In addition to Harry, Elton John, and Liz Hurley, costs will be borne by the singer’s husband David Furnish, former Member of Parliament Simon Hughes, actress Sadie Frost, and member of the House of Lords Doreen Lawrence.

The judge did not set a cap on the potential amount to be recovered. As a result, the plaintiffs’ total costs could reach £34.5 million—which is precisely how much Associated Newspapers estimated its expenses as of July.

The defense requested that the amount be capped at a range of £18 million to £20 million, but Nicklin rejected this proposal. In his view, a cap set in this manner could amount to an arbitrary estimate and would deprive the publisher of the opportunity to substantiate higher expenses in separate proceedings.

At the same time, the judge expressed doubts about the validity of the amount claimed by the publisher. He called the claim for costs exceeding £34 million clearly excessive and noted that it remains to be determined to what extent the claimed expenses were truly necessary and reasonable.

The final amount will be determined by a separate judicial assessment. According to The Law Society Gazette, the celebrities have insurance in case they lose the case, which covers up to £16.2 million.

The lawsuit against Associated Newspapers is one of the latest in a series of legal battles between Harry and British tabloids. The ruling on legal costs came shortly after reports that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were returning to the United Kingdom.

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