prince harry elton john legal costs

Prince Harry and six other high-profile claimants face a total legal bill of up to £34.5 million following the dismissal of their privacy and phone hacking case against Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher of the Daily Mail.

A High Court judge imposed an exceptional costs order, ruling that the group must pay an initial sum of £9.54 million within seven days. The judge criticized the claimants for presenting their case in a manner that was unreasonable to a high degree, making it a rare instance where costs far exceeded pre-trial agreements.

The legal action, which also involved Liz Hurley and Baroness Lawrence, was dismissed on 7 July after ANL denied allegations of unlawful information-gathering.

Uncertainty remains over the final financial outcome as the claimants have until 2 October to attempt to launch an appeal against the ruling. Google Trending Now shows increased search interest in uk.