UK court orders Prince Harry, others to pay Daily Mail initial £9.5M

A UK court ordered Prince Harry and six others on Friday to pay an initial £9.5 million, about $13 million, after losing their long-running privacy case against the publisher of the Daily Mail.

The High Court said the group must make the payment within a week.

How much must Prince Harry and the others pay?

The High Court ordered the claimants to make an interim payment of £9,544,355 by 4:00pm on August 28, a published summary stated. This is an initial figure, not a final settlement, since the court has not yet determined how much of Associated Newspapers Limited's total costs the claimants must ultimately cover.

A separate costs judge will decide the final amount if it isn't agreed between the parties.

Why did Prince Harry sue the Daily Mail?

Harry and six other high-profile figures, including Elton John, his husband David Furnish, and actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, accused the Mail of bugging their cars and homes and listening in on their calls. They brought unlawful information gathering and privacy invasion claims against Associated Newspapers Limited, or ANL, which denied all the allegations. Judge Matthew Nicklin sided with the publisher in a July 7 ruling, concluding the claimants had failed to prove their allegations.

Friday's order followed a further two-day hearing over costs, during which Nicklin again described the claimants' case as "speculative and substantially inferential." The ruling comes less than 48 hours after news broke that Harry plans to relocate back to Britain from California within weeks with his wife Meghan and their two children.

How much has ANL spent defending the case?

The court noted that ANL estimated its total costs defending itself had reached about £34.5 million by July 9. Nicklin said this figure appeared excessive and largely unexplained, and raised real concerns about whether all the costs claimed by ANL were reasonably incurred. The court had previously been told there was a shortfall between ANL's total costs and the claimants' insurance cover, combined at £16.2 million.

Why will Harry and the others pay a larger share of costs?

Nicklin rejected requests from Harry and the others to pay costs on a standard basis, instead accepting ANL's argument that its costs should be repaid on a stricter indemnity basis. The court concluded the litigation had been pursued in a way that took it well outside the norm, citing the gravity of the allegations among other factors. This decision is set to increase the share of costs the seven claimants are liable for.

The court also set a timetable for the claimants to seek permission to appeal the July 7 decision, with a filing deadline of October 2. In a joint statement following last month's ruling, Harry and campaigner Doreen Lawrence called it "a complete and obvious whitewash."

How have both sides reacted to the costs ruling?

An ANL spokesperson called Friday's decision "another overwhelming victory for the Mail and its journalism." The spokesperson added that the judgment represents "a devastating critique of an attempt to destroy a newspaper and the reputations of its journalists, editors and executives." Simon Hughes, a former MP and one of the seven claimants, said he was "disappointed and surprised" that ANL's recoverable costs had not been limited by the judge.