UK court orders Prince Harry, six others to pay Daily Mail £9.5 million

A UK court has ruled that Prince Harry, along with six other prominent individuals, must pay £9.5 million to the Daily Mail publisher after losing their case against privacy invasion. The claimants, which include Elton John, his husband David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, and Sadie Frost, had accused the Mail of various breaches such as car and home bugging, phone tapping, and unauthorized access to personal information.

After a lengthy trial, Judge Matthew Nicklin sided with the publisher and denied all allegations. The court ordered the claimants to make an initial payment of £9,544,355 by a specific date. It also noted that Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) had incurred a total defense cost of £34.5 million, which the court found to be exceptionally high and unprecedented.

The issue now is how these costs should be assessed and who should ultimately pay. The claimants have two weeks to request permission to appeal the ruling, which must be filed by October 2.