Prince Harry and six other claimants have been ordered to pay about $11 million towards the legal costs of Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail, after losing a High Court case last month. The payment is due by 28 August, the BBC reported.
The Duke of Sussex is among seven claimants who are liable for the interim payment. The others are Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Sir Simon Hughes, Sadie Frost, Liz Hurley and Baroness Doreen Lawrence.
The claimants had brought a case against Associated Newspapers, alleging unlawful information gathering by journalists and private investigators. They lost the case in July.
Following the judgment, Associated Newspapers sought an interim payment towards its legal costs while the final amount is determined.
Justice Nicklin ordered the claimants to make the interim payment of about $11 million. The publisher had sought as much as $47 million in legal costs during a two-day hearing in late July. A final decision on the full costs remains pending.
He said: “That matters. Serious allegations of criminality or grave impropriety cannot properly be left hanging over individuals in that way. “If a party no longer advances such an allegation, or no longer has a proper evidential basis for advancing it, the allegation should be withdrawn clearly and in terms. “The claimants’ failure to do so was not ordinary forensic judgment. It was not a proper or disciplined way to deal with serious allegations. It was unreasonable to a high degree.”
Harry and Lawrence described the original judgment as a “complete and obvious whitewash” and said it was “not altogether unexpected”.
The financial setback comes as Harry and his wife, Meghan, prepare to move back to the UK with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
The couple have lived in Montecito, California, since 2020. Reports say their children are expected to start school in the UK in September, although the timing of the family’s move remains unclear.
Sources cited by Page Six said financial considerations had played a “big” role in the decision to relocate, although another source said the couple were “not out of money”. One source said: “Anything that comes in instantly goes out,” citing mortgage and security costs.
Harry and Meghan have not announced plans to sell or rent out their Montecito home.
Meghan is also reportedly considering a return to acting while in the UK.