The Duke of Sussex and six other household names will pay an initial £9.5 million to Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers for its legal fees over their failed unlawful information-gathering claims, a High Court judge has ruled.
Claims dismissed after trial
The high-profile figures, including Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Sir Elton John, sued Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over allegations of unlawful information-gathering. ANL strongly denied the claims, which were heard at an 11-week trial in London earlier this year. Judge Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed all the cases in a judgment on July 7.
The cases returned to the High Court for a two-day hearing over costs, where the court was told ANL’s total costs were more than £34 million.
Interim payment ruling
Mr Justice Nicklin has now given his decision on the size of an initial payment the group will make to ANL, as well as how the full costs will be assessed. The court ruled the Mail publisher can seek further costs.
ANL, which also publishes the Mail On Sunday, had asked for more than £9.9 million as an interim payment ahead of future hearings to decide its legal costs in depth. Lawyers for the group of household names, also including David Furnish, Sadie Frost, Liz Hurley and Sir Simon Hughes, argued the interim payment should be just over £7.9 million.
Sussexes to return to UK
The judgment comes after it was made public on Wednesday that Harry and his wife the Duchess of Sussex are moving back to the UK. The couple decamped to California more than six years ago amid the Megxit crisis but now will relocate back from the US to the UK later this month to live in a non-royal residence outside London.
