Prince Harry and six others ordered to pay Daily Mail publisher £9.5m

Prince Harry and six others ordered to pay Daily Mail publisher £9.5m.

Key points

• The claimants, including Sir Elton John and Liz Hurley, sued Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over allegations of unlawful information-gathering.
• On 7 July, Judge Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed the claims and remarked the public figures had failed to prove the allegations.
• Mr Justice Nicklin previously remarked the claimants would need to pay the interim payment on August 28.
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• During the trial, dozens of individuals provided evidence including Prince Harry and the other claimants.

Prince Harry and a group of six other high-profile figures have been ordered to create an initial payment of £9.54m to the Daily Mail's publisher after they lost their High Court privacy case.

Meanwhile, the claimants, including Sir Elton John and Liz Hurley, sued Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over allegations of unlawful information-gathering. It ANL strenuously denied.

It comes just days after the Duke and Duchess confirmed their plan to return to the UK, with their children Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, enrolled to start school in September.

In practice, the seven claimants who have been ordered to pay an initial £9.5m in the coming week are Prince Harry, Sir Elton John and his husband David Furnish, Sir Simon Hughes, Sadie Frost, Liz Hurley, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence.

During the trial, dozens of individuals provided evidence including Prince Harry and the other claimants. The Duke of Sussex flew in from the US to attend court in person.

Plenty of current and former Associated Newspapers journalists and executives provided evidence denying illegal activity.

In a joint statement after the judge's ruling last month, Prince Harry and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, another claimant and peer whose son Stephen was murdered in 1993, stated: "We came to Court seeking justice and accountability. But we have received neither."

"It is a complete and obvious whitewash, but sadly not altogether unexpected", the pair continued.

ANL had asked for more than £9.9 million as an interim payment ahead of future hearings to decide its legal costs in depth.

Nevertheless, lawyers for the claimants stated the interim payment should be just over £7.9 million.

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You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can additionally follow @BBCBreaking on X to secure the latest alerts. Harry loses High Court privacy case against Daily Mail publisher. Harry and Meghan's return to UK reignites questions over security.

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