Prince Harry and six other high-profile claimants have been ordered to pay more than £9.5 million to the publisher of the Daily Mail following their failed High Court privacy case. The ruling, delivered by Mr Justice Nicklin on August 21, marks the first round of legal costs in a dispute that has already seen an 11-week trial and a two-day costs hearing.
Seven claimants face £9.5m interim payment
The group, which also includes Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Sadie Frost, Liz Hurley, and Sir Simon Hughes, must pay £9,544,355 by August 28 as an initial contribution to Associated Newspapers Limited's (ANL) costs. The payment is an interim sum ahead of further hearings to determine the total amount owed.
ANL, which also publishes the Mail on Sunday, had sought an interim payment of more than £9.9 million, while the claimants' lawyers argued that the interim payment should be just over £7.9 million. The judge's ruling falls between these two figures.
Background to the failed privacy case
The claimants had sued ANL over allegations of unlawful information-gathering. ANL strongly denied the claims, which were heard at an 11-week trial in London earlier this year. Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed all the cases in a ruling on July 7.
During the costs hearing, the court was told that ANL's total costs exceeded £34 million. The judge also ruled that ANL's costs should be determined on an indemnity basis, which is more favourable to the publisher in terms of the amount it can recover, except where orders had already been made.
Indemnity basis ruling and its implications
The indemnity basis ruling is rare and means ANL does not need to show its costs are proportionate or adhere to the court's previous budget. In written submissions, Nicholas Bacon KC, representing the group, argued that paying costs on this stricter basis could be 'very significant' and could lead to the claimants being without enough insurance cover.
Mr Justice Nicklin said: 'The claimants and their advisers have been on notice, since the hearing, that this would be the date for payment on account.'
Harry and Meghan's planned UK return
The judgment comes after news that the Duke of Sussex and his wife, Meghan Markle, will be returning to the UK for an 'extended period'. More than six years ago, the couple relocated to California with their two children, Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, amid the 'Megxit' crisis as they stepped back from royal duties. They are set to jet back to Britain later this month to live in a non-royal residence outside London, and the children will start a new school in September.
