Prince Harry and other prominent individuals have been ordered by London’s High Court to pay an interim sum of £9.54 million ($17.9 million Cdn) towards the legal expenses of the Daily Mail’s publisher following their defeat in privacy lawsuits. Judge Matthew Nicklin recently dismissed the case brought by Prince Harry and several others, refuting claims of unlawful activities by the Mail titles such as phone hacking.
Among the high-profile figures suing Associated Newspapers were singer Elton John and his Canadian spouse David Furnish, along with actors Sadie Frost and Elizabeth Hurley. The group also included former Liberal Democratic MP Simon Hughes and anti-racism activist Doreen Lawrence, who emerged as an activist following the tragic death of her son, Stephen, in 1993.
Nicklin criticized the claimants’ case, stating that serious allegations were based on speculative and inferential grounds, leading him to deem their conduct highly unreasonable. The court ruled that the outstanding amount must be paid on an “indemnity basis,” meaning the losing party, including Prince Harry and others, is required to contribute towards Associated’s legal costs without the publisher having to prove the reasonableness or proportionality of the costs.
During a court hearing in July, it was revealed that Associated had accumulated legal expenses of £34.5 million ($64.7 million Cdn), significantly surpassing the £16 million ($30 million Cdn) insurance coverage held by Prince Harry and the other claimants. The possibility of an appeal by the claimants remains undecided at this time.
Prince Harry’s spokesperson refrained from commenting on the ruling, while the prince had previously characterized the court’s decision as a “complete and obvious whitewash” earlier in the summer. In a surprising move, Prince Harry and Meghan disclosed their plans to return to the U.K., where they intend to enroll their children in school after residing in southern California for the past six years.
This legal dispute marks the final unresolved litigation in a series of lawsuits initiated by Prince Harry against tabloid publishers for alleged unlawful practices. Previously, Harry was awarded £140,600 (about $240,430 Cdn) after the High Court determined that he had been a victim of “modest” phone hacking and other illicit information gathering by journalists at Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN).
In a separate significant case, News Group in the U.K., led by Rupert Murdoch, issued a formal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the phone hacking and privacy violations orchestrated by their journalists and private investigators. Nevertheless, the court dismissed an assertion in a court filing that Murdoch’s newspaper group had struck a clandestine agreement with Buckingham Palace to prevent royals from pursuing legal action against them.