Prince Harry could face a major financial blow after The Daily Mail’s publisher has demanded an initial £10m payment from the Duke of Sussex and fellow claimants after they lost their case against Associated Newspapers. This comes weeks after the High Court judge dismissed the claimants’ “speculative” £50m privacy claim, in which they accused the publisher of unlawful information gathering.
All the claimants lost their case earlier this month, with the High Court judge finding that none of their evidence was sufficient. The High Court has now heard today that the Mail’s publisher wants the claimants and their legal teams to pay costs on an ‘indemnity basis’. This would allow the judge to instruct the claimants to pay the full legal costs for both sides.
This would be subject to a ‘reasonableness’ test, the Daily Mail reports. The court heard that Associated Newspapers’ costs were around £34 million.
Associated’s lead barrister, Antony White KC, said that the claimants’ individual cases were ‘pursued for the most part without any supporting documentary evidence”. He argued: “The extent of this shifting case was highly unreasonable and inexcusable.
“It led to significant costs and time being wasted by Associated in preparing to meet allegations, only to find them being subsequently abandoned or changed at trial.”
Mr White told the judge: “If the claimants’ conduct in these proceedings does not attract an order for indemnity costs, then it is difficult to see what case would.”
The hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, which began today, could last for up to two days.
The legal team for the claimants called Associated’s legal bill “astonishingly high” and claimed that the publisher wanted to “teach the claimants a lesson” by seeking the maximum possible financial redress.
The claimants’ lawyer, David Sherborne, said: “Associated has adopted a “no expense spared” approach to this litigation and such costs should not be condoned by the court from an inter partes perspective.
‘It would have a particularly harsh impact on the seven individual claimants in these proceedings, who will bear personal liability for Associated’s costs in excess of their [insurance] cover. They have approached this litigation in good faith, under the burden of decades of intense, intrusive media scrutiny into their private lives.”
Prince Harry and the other six claimants, which included Sir Elton John, Liz Hurley and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, did not attend the court hearing in person. Mr Justice Nicklin is expected to return his judgment at a later stage.
