Harry and celebrities ordered to make £9.5m payment next Friday after losing Daily Mail case

A group of high-profile figures including Prince Harry have been ordered to pay an initial £9.5m to the Daily Mail’s publisher in legal costs after their failed High Court case. The Duke of Sussex, along with six others including Sir Elton John and Baroness Doreen Lawrence, had sued Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over allegations of unlawful information gathering. ANL strongly denied the claims, which were heard at an 11-week trial in London earlier this year, with judge Mr Justice Nicklin dismissing all the cases in a judgment on 7 July. Shorts The cases returned to the High Court for a two-day hearing over costs, where the court was told ANL’s total costs were more than £34m. On Friday afternoon, Mr Justice Nicklin handed down his written decision on the size of an initial payment the group of high-profile figures will make to ANL, as well as how the full costs will be assessed. The claims brought by the Duke of Sussex and others were “speculative and substantially inferential” and “lacked a proper evidential foundation”, Mr Justice Nicklin said. ANL said the ruling “is a devastating critique of an attempt to destroy a newspaper and the reputations of its journalists, editors and executives”. It follows the revelation on Wednesday that Harry and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are set to move back to the UK with their children. The couple left for California more than six years ago amid the ‘Megxit‘ crisis but will now return later this month to live in a non-royal residence outside London. ANL, which also publishes The Mail on Sunday, had asked for more than £9.9m as an interim payment ahead of future hearings to decide its legal costs in depth. Lawyers for the group of well-known names, also including David Furnish, Sadie Frost, Liz Hurley and Sir Simon Hughes, argued that the interim payment should be just over £7.9m. Elizabeth Hurley (right) leaves the Royal Courts of Justice in central London in January during the trial over allegations of unlawful information gathering brought against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) (Photo: PA) Mr Justice Nicklin had previously said the claimants would need to make the interim payment on 28 August, adding: “They are going to be paying a sum of money that I will confirm in the judgment.” During the hearing, ANL said the group of seven should pay the total costs on an indemnity rather than a standard basis, which would be more favourable to the publisher with regard to the amount it can recover. However, the claimants’ legal representative Nicholas Bacon KC said in written submissions that it could be “very significant” if they had to pay ANL’s costs on this stricter basis and could lead to them being without enough insurance cover. The i Paper is part of Harmsworth Media, a publishing division owned by ANL’s parent company DMGT – and has complete editorial independence. This breaking news story is being updated.