Prince Harry and six other high-profile claimants are scheduled to receive a court ruling Friday regarding the initial legal costs they must pay to Associated Newspapers Ltd. The decision follows a failed invasion of privacy lawsuit brought against the publisher of Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper.
The legal action concluded last month in a London High Court. The claimants, including Elton John and David Furnish, had alleged that the publisher engaged in unlawful information gathering, such as phone hacking. The publisher denied all allegations of malpractice during the 11-week trial.
Justice Matthew Nicklin ruled on July 7 that the claims lacked sufficient evidence, noting the possibility that reporting came from legitimate sources. Associated Newspapers Ltd. has reported total legal costs of approximately 34 million pounds ($46 million). While the claimants are believed to be insured for roughly half of that amount, the judge must now determine the specific scale of the interim payments.
Associated Newspapers has requested an initial payment of more than 9.9 million pounds. Lawyers representing Prince Harry and the other claimants argued that the interim figure should be just over 7.9 million pounds. Justice Nicklin is expected to issue the financial decision in a written statement at 2 p.m. local time.
The financial outcome marks the conclusion of a series of lawsuits Prince Harry filed against British tabloid publishers. While he previously secured a judgment against the Daily Mirror for phone hacking and a settlement from The Sun, this defeat against Associated Newspapers involves the highest reported legal costs of his litigation efforts. Harry has stated that these legal actions, which he described as a quest to reform the news media, contributed to personal strain within the royal family. A person following this case would notice the shift from allegations of illegal newsgathering to the concrete financial obligations now facing the plaintiffs.
The ruling comes as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle prepare to relocate from California back to the United Kingdom later this month. The couple will live in a nonroyal residence outside London. Following the judge's written statement on Friday, the claimants will learn the final schedule for paying the remaining balance of the legal fees. The case sets a precedent for how legal costs are allocated in high-profile privacy litigations when the court finds a shortage of evidence to support claims of unlawful tactics by the press.