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Prince Harry and Elton John ordered to pay £9.54M to Daily Mail publisher

musicAug 21, 202679156

A UK High Court judge ordered Prince Harry, Elton John and six other claimants to pay an interim sum of £9.5 million to Associated Newspapers Limited by 4 p.m. on August 28 after losing their lawsuit alleging unlawful information gathering by the publisher. The claimants included Elton John and his husband David Furnish, campaigner Doreen Lawrence, actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, and former politician Simon Hughes. Judge Matthew Nicklin dismissed claims that articles published between 1997 and 2015 were unlawfully sourced and said the claimants’ conduct fell outside the ordinary and reasonable conduct of civil proceedings. The ruling unusually relieves ANL of an initial obligation to prove its costs are reasonable, leaving it to the claimants to challenge any amounts they dispute, although the court said ANL cannot recover unreasonable costs. ANL had earlier estimated its legal costs at £34.5 million, a figure the court described as exceptionally high, and the judge declined to cap the publisher’s eventual claim, directing that a detailed assessment by a specialist judge will follow. Harry gave evidence during the trial and previously described the High Court’s judgment as a "whitewash." The £9.5 million is an interim payment and further sums may still be assessed and sought from the claimants.

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