Prince Harry and six other high-profile claimants have been ordered to make an initial payment of about $13 million in legal costs to the publisher of the Daily Mail after losing their High Court privacy case.
BBC reported that the seven claimants, including Elton John and Liz Hurley, must make the payment by August 28. They could face significantly higher costs following the ruling in favour of Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail.
The group had sued ANL over allegations of unlawful information-gathering, which the publisher strongly denied. BBC reported that on July 7, Justice Nicklin dismissed the claims, ruling that the public figures had failed to prove the allegations. He also made an exceptional costs order, under which the claimants could potentially be liable for up to $46.6 million in costs incurred by ANL.
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The judge said the higher costs were linked to the way the case had been brought, including allegations that senior executives at the newspaper group had lied to the Leveson public inquiry.
Prince Harry and the other claimants have until October 2 to seek permission to appeal the judgment. The other claimants are Elton John, his husband David Furnish, Sir Simon Hughes, Sadie Frost, Liz Hurley and Baroness Doreen Lawrence.
Justice Nicklin also ruled that ANL's costs should be assessed on an indemnity basis, which generally allows a successful party to recover a greater proportion of its legal costs.
The claimants had insurance covering up to about $21.9 million of ANL's costs if they lost the case. Friday's ruling means the publisher could seek to recover up to the full $46.6 million it said it spent defending the case, potentially leaving the claimants facing an additional bill of around $24.3 million.
However, Justice Nicklin described the potential $46.6 million costs claim as excessive and indicated that the final amount could be lower. The judge nevertheless decided against imposing a ceiling on ANL's recoverable costs, saying such a move would be too broad brushed and could result in unfairness.
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He also criticised the claimants for failing to withdraw allegations of serious wrongdoing that they no longer intended to pursue. “It was unreasonable to a high degree,” Justice Nicklin said.
ANL described the ruling as a devastating critique of an attempt to destroy a newspaper and the reputations of its journalists, editors and executives.
ANL had sought an interim payment of more than $13.4 million, while lawyers for the claimants argued that the payment should be just over $10.7 million. Justice Nicklin had previously ordered that the interim payment be made by August 28.
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