Prince Harry braces for eye watering legal bill after Daily Mail defeat
The litigation costs Prince Harry and a group of six other household names will have to pay the Daily Mail’s publisher are set to be decided on Friday after the group lost their high-profile phone-hacking case. The celebrity group waged a long-running legal battle against Associated Newspapers over allegations of illegal information gathering and phone [...]
Prince Harry and six other prominent figures are bracing for a significant legal expense following their loss in a high-profile phone-hacking case against the Daily Mail. The group, which included the Duke of Sussex, Sir Elton John, Liz Hurley, Sadie Frost, Doreen Lawrence, and Simon Hughes, claimed serious privacy breaches dating back over three decades. However, their lawsuit was dismissed in July after an 11-week trial, with the judge ruling that the evidence did not prove the information was obtained unlawfully.
The plaintiffs maintain that the costs incurred by the publisher are "eye-watering" and estimate the final amount to be around £34m. The claimants had taken out insurance to cover £16.2m of these costs, but there is uncertainty over who will be responsible for the remaining shortfall. Associated Newspapers, the defendant, argues that the claimants must pay back the costs in full, potentially leading to a larger financial payout if the court rules on an indemnity basis.
Critics have pointed to the conduct of Prince Harry and Doreen Lawrence during the litigation, but the judge is unlikely to consider these remarks as they were made after the decision.
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