Prince Harry and other well-known individuals have been ordered by London’s High Court to make an interim payment of £9.54 million ($17.9 million Cdn) towards the legal expenses of the Daily Mail’s publisher following the dismissal of their privacy lawsuits. Judge Matthew Nicklin recently rejected the claims made by Prince Harry and others, which alleged that the Mail titles were involved in various unlawful activities such as phone hacking.
The court ruling on Friday stipulated that the outstanding amount should be paid on an “indemnity basis,” requiring the prince and other claimants to contribute to Associated’s legal costs without the publisher having to justify the reasonableness or proportionality of the costs. Associated’s legal expenses amounted to £34 million ($63.7 million Cdn), with the losing claimants believed to be insured for approximately half of that sum.
Among the high-profile figures involved in legal action against Associated Newspapers were singer Elton John and his husband David Furnish, actors Sadie Frost and Elizabeth Hurley, former Liberal Democratic MP Simon Hughes, and anti-racism activist Doreen Lawrence. The latter gained prominence after her son, Stephen, was killed in 1993.
Following the court’s initial ruling this summer, Associated expressed satisfaction with the outcome, emphasizing the victory for press freedom. In contrast, Prince Harry criticized the decision as a “complete and obvious whitewash.”
Prince Harry and Meghan recently announced their plans to return to the UK with their children for schooling, ending their stay in California. The legal dispute with Associated Newspapers marks the conclusion of Harry’s legal battles against tabloid publishers for unethical practices.
Previously, Harry was awarded £140,600 (about $240,430 Cdn) in a case against Britain’s Mirror Group Newspapers for phone-hacking and other illicit information gathering. In a separate case involving the News Group in the UK led by Rupert Murdoch, a public apology was issued to Prince Harry for privacy breaches and unlawful conduct by journalists and private investigators.
The court dismissed an allegation of a covert agreement between Murdoch’s newspaper group and Buckingham Palace to prevent royal family members from pursuing legal actions. The ruling and related documents can be viewed for further details.