Prince Harry and 6 others ordered to pay £9.54 million in Mail case
What's new: The payment is only a first installment, and the publisher has said its legal bill exceeded £34.5 million.
Prince Harry, Elton John and five other claimants were ordered to pay £9.54 million to Associated Newspapers after losing their privacy case against the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. High Court Judge Matthew Nicklin ruled the interim payment should go toward the publisher’s legal costs and said the claimants had pursued the case in an unreasonable way. In July, Nicklin threw out allegations that the papers used unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking and the use of private investigators. He wrote in the costs ruling that the claimants’ allegations rested on speculative foundations. Associated has said its legal costs total £34.5 million, with the final amount the claimants may owe still to be decided.