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 publisher of the Daily Mail after losing their privacy lawsuits. Judge Matthew Nicklin recently dismissed the case brought by Prince Harry and several others, refuting claims of unlawful activities such as phone hacking by the Mail titles.
Aside from Prince Harry, the list of high-profile figures suing Associated Newspapers includes Elton John, David Furnish, Sadie Frost, Elizabeth Hurley, Simon Hughes, and Doreen Lawrence. Judge Nicklin criticized the claimants’ case, stating that serious allegations were based on speculative and inferential grounds, deeming their conduct highly unreasonable.
A spokesperson for Associated Newspapers hailed the court ruling as a significant triumph for the Mail and its journalism. The ruling mandates the outstanding amount to be paid on an “indemnity basis,” compelling Prince Harry and the others to contribute towards Associated’s legal costs without requiring the publisher to justify these expenses.
During a hearing in July, it was revealed that Associated had amassed a legal bill of £34.5 million ($64.7 million Cdn), significantly surpassing the claimants’ insurance coverage of £16 million ($30 million Cdn), according to Nicholas Bacon, the claimants’ lawyer. The decision on whether the claimants will appeal the ruling is pending.
Prince Harry has not issued a statement following the court decision. He previously referred to the court loss as a “complete and obvious whitewash.” Prince Harry and Meghan recently announced their plans to return to the UK with their children after residing in southern California for the past six years.
This lawsuit marks the final legal battle in a series of litigation filed by Prince Harry against tabloid publishers for employing unlawful tactics. Previously, Harry was awarded £140,600 (approximately $240,430 Cdn) in damages for being a victim of phone-hacking and other unlawful information gathering by journalists at the Mirror Group Newspapers.
In another significant case, News Group in the UK, led by Rupert Murdoch, issued a formal apology to Prince Harry for phone hacking and other privacy breaches. However, the court dismissed allegations of a secret agreement between Murdoch’s newspaper group and Buckingham Palace to prevent royals from pursuing legal action against them.