Prince Harry, Elton John and others slapped with millions in legal fees after court loss to Daily Mail

Prince Harry, Elton John and others slapped with millions in legal fees after court loss to Daily Mail

Judgment is only for an initial payment, with potential for bigger sum

Prince Harry and other high-profile claimants must ‌make an interim payment of £9.54 million ($17.9 million Cdn) toward the legal costs ​of the Daily ​Mail's publisher after losing their privacy lawsuits, London's ​High Court ruled on ⁠Friday.

Last ⁠month, ‌judge Matthew Nicklin comprehensively rejected the case brought by King Charles's younger ⁠son and several others, rejecting ‌allegations that the Mail titles had engaged in widespread unlawful activities, such ​as phone hacking.

Singer Elton John and his Canadian husband, David Furnish, as well as actors Sadie Frost and Elizabeth Hurley were among the other high-profile names suing Associated Newspapers. Other claimants included former Liberal Democratic MP Simon Hughes and Doreen Lawrence, who became an anti-racism activist after the killing of her son, Stephen, in 1993.

Explaining his decision on legal fees, Nicklin was highly critical of the way the claimants' case had been made, including that serious allegations had ‌rested on "speculative and inferential" foundations.

"In my judgment, the cumulative effect of these matters takes the case well outside the norm. The conduct was unreasonable to a high degree," Nicklin said.

Why Prince Harry’s court loss is a 'bitter' and 'significant setback' in his media fight

Prince Harry and Meghan moving back to the U.K.

A spokesman for Associated Newspapers called the ruling "another overwhelming victory for ⁠the Mail and its journalism."

The outstanding amount should be paid on an "indemnity basis," Friday's ruling said. This means that as the losing party, the prince and ​the others must pay toward Associated's legal costs without ⁠the publisher needing to show these were reasonable ⁠and proportionate.

The court was told at a hearing in ⁠July that Associated had incurred a legal bill of £34.5 million ($64.7 million Cdn), while Harry ⁠and ⁠other claimants only had an ​insurance policy that covered £16 million ($30 million Cdn).

A spokesperson for Harry did not ​immediately respond to a request for comment. The prince described the court loss earlier this summer as a "complete and obvious whitewash."

Harry and his wife, Meghan, announced this week their imminent return to Britain, where they will send their son and daughter to school. After briefly decamping in British Columbia, in a decision to leave the U.K. that stunned the British press, they have spent the past six years in southern California.

The case is the final outstanding litigation in a series of lawsuits Harry had filed accusing tabloid publishers of using unlawful tactics.

Harry was previously awarded £140,600 (about $240,430 Cdn) after the High Court ruled he had been a victim of "modest" phone-hacking and other unlawful information gathering by journalists at Britain's Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), publisher of the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People.

Prince Harry, others lose privacy lawsuit against Daily Mail publisher

In 2023, Harry became the first British royal to give evidence at a trial in 130 years, when he testified as part of the case.

In the other major case, the Rupert Murdoch-led News Group in the U.K. offered a "full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex" for "the phone hacking, surveillance and misuse of private information by journalists and private investigators instructed by them."

But the court rejected an allegation made in a court filing that Murdoch's newspaper group had a secret deal with Buckingham Palace to block royals from filing such lawsuits.