Prince Harry, celebrities ordered to pay $18m – but final court bill could be higher
The court ruling exposes Harry and others, including rock star Elton John and model Elizabeth Hurley, to even greater costs after a judge dismissed their long-running claim against the Daily Mail’s publisher.
Prince Harry, Elton John, and five other high-profile figures have been ordered to pay an initial £9.54 million ($13 million) to the publisher of the Daily Mail, Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), after losing their privacy case. The payment is due by August 28.
The claimants, who also include Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost, and David Furnish, had accused ANL of unlawful information gathering and privacy invasions, including bugging cars and homes, listening to calls, and accessing bank accounts and medical records. However, Judge Matthew Nicklin rejected their allegations in a ruling on July 7.
The court has also ruled that the claimants must pay ANL's costs on an indemnity basis, which means ANL does not need to show that the costs were reasonable and proportionate. ANL's total costs in defending itself have reached about £34.5 million, which the court described as "exceptionally high" and "unprecedented". The full extent of the payments due to ANL has not been announced, and if it cannot be agreed between the parties, ANL's costs will be assessed in separate proceedings, according to The Korea Times.
Brief written by urgent.news from The Sydney Morning Herald, The Korea Times, Gulf News, Le Monde English, Free Malaysia Today — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
