Prince Harry, Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley, and others involved in the lawsuit against the Associated Newspapers group will have to pay an initial amount of £9.5 million (about 11 million euros) to the Daily Mail. The plaintiffs have until 4:00 PM on August 28 to make the payment.
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A judge ordered this Friday that the group of litigants ―which also includes David Furnish, actress Sadie Frost, former Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes, and Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon― must cover the legal costs of the trial. That is, the money the publishing company claims to have spent on lawyers and solicitors during the process.
The plaintiffs have until October 2 to appeal the ruling, which comes after they lost the lawsuit on July 7 for the alleged illicit obtaining of information and after the British newspaper requested £10 million on July 29.
By pointing out that the costs should be assessed on an “indemnity basis” or full costs, Magistrate Matthew Nicklin’s criterion imposes that in case of doubt, the amount demanded by the party obtaining compensation should prevail, without the need for it to be a proportionate or reasonable figure.
In explaining his decision, Judge Nicklin stated that the accusations against the newspaper were based on speculative and inferential grounds. “The claims, and the way they were presented, alleged, processed, maintained, and publicly disseminated, involved a combination of circumstances and conduct that took the litigation beyond ordinary and reasonable civil procedure,” he declared. He added: “The cumulative effect of these facts places the case well above the norm. The conduct was highly unreasonable.”
The Associated Newspapers publishing group described the ruling as “another overwhelming victory for the Mail and its journalism. Its judgment constitutes a devastating critique of the attempt to destroy a newspaper and the reputation of its journalists, editors, and executives.”
The group informed the court that it had spent about £34.5 million, while the plaintiffs only had an insurance policy covering £16 million in case they had to pay costs.
Antony White, lawyer for Associated, argued that the accusations were very “serious, outrageous, and unsupported by evidence,” which exceeded the agreed budget, and that Prince Harry’s statements after the ruling constituted an abuse of his position and celebrity status.
This ruling allows the Daily Mail publishing group to claim a much larger proportion of the legal costs arising from the trial. They estimate it will be at least £20 million.
Judge Nicklin preferred to impose an initial payment lower than the total £34.5 million claimed and expressed doubts that the legal expenses were that high. However, he avoided setting a limit on the final amount to prevent any constraints on the next steps of the process.
According to Associated Newspapers’ lawyers, serious accusations were made, including phone hacking against journalists who were unjustly accused, and they consider it a “flagrant violation” of the judge’s repeated warnings to the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
After an 11-week trial last month, Judge Matthew Nicklin completely dismissed the lawsuit filed by the younger son of King Charles, Elton John, and five others, rejecting accusations that the Daily Mail had engaged in widespread illegal activities such as phone interception for its publications.
The seven complainants accused the newspaper of illegally obtaining personal information between 1993 and 2018 through voicemail interception, call listening, deceptive access to confidential records such as medical data, and hiring private investigators.
The news of the court ruling comes just as Prince Harry’s name is back on the front page following the announcement last Wednesday of his imminent return to the United Kingdom with his family, thus ending a six-year self-exile in the United States after deciding to step down as an active member of the British royal family. One of the big questions surrounding his return is how his relationship with the country’s press will be.
