LONDON, England: Prince Harry and his fellow claimants have been ordered to pay an initial £9.54 million (USD13 million) in legal costs after losing their case against the publisher of the Daily Mail, Anadolu Ajansi reported.
The group of seven, which also included Elton John, Liz Hurley and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, had all its claims dismissed by Justice Nicklin last month.
Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail, said its total legal costs were more than £34.5 million (USD47.05 million).
However, the full amount will not be paid immediately.
ANL had asked for an interim payment of more than £9.9 million (USD13.50 million). Lawyers representing Harry and the other claimants argued that the initial payment should be just over £7.9 million (USD10.77 million).
The claimants alleged that unlawful information gathering took place at the publisher over a 30-year period from the early 1990s.
Their allegations included voicemail interception, landline tapping and obtaining information by deception, known as “blagging”.
They alleged that private investigators, freelance journalists and staff at ANL were involved. ANL strongly denied the claims.
In a 436-page ruling, Justice Nicklin said none of the claimants had proved their allegations of unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking.
Following the judgment in July, ANL described the result as an “overwhelming victory” and a “magnificent vindication of the Daily Mail’s journalism”.
It described the ruling as “a devastating critique of an attempt to destroy a newspaper and the reputations of its journalists, editors and executives”.
The latest order means Harry and the other claimants must now make the initial payment towards ANL’s legal costs. – BERNAMA-ANADOLU
