Prince Harry, group respond to court order after £9.5m blow

Prince Harry and other celebrities have reportedly responded to the court order after losing their legal battle against a UK publisher.

The Duke of Sussex and six other famous figures have finally settled an initial payment of £9.5 million in legal fees to the Daily Mail publisher, according to The Independent.

The group of seven high-profile figures, which also includes Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Sir Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley, lost their High Court case against ANL after accusing them of unlawful information gathering.

The publisher strongly denied the claims, which were heard at an 11-week trial in London earlier this year, with judge Justice Nicklin dismissing all the cases in a judgment on 7 July.

The cases returned to the High Court for a two-day hearing over costs, where the court was told that the publisher’s total costs were more than £34 million.

On 21 August, Justice Nicklin ruled the group of seven must pay £9,544,355 within seven days as an initial contribution to the publisher’s costs ahead of further hearings to determine the total sum.

The judge also ruled that ANL’s costs should be determined on an indemnity basis, which is more favourable to the publisher in terms of the amount it can recover, aside from where orders had already been made.