Prince Harry Faces £18M Bill as Judge Weighs Harsher Penalty Over 'Pack of Lies' Case

Prince Harry faces a potential £18 million bill in London after the publisher of the Daily Mail asked the High Court to impose a harsher costs penalty over what it calls a 'pack of lies' privacy case the Duke and six other celebrities lost earlier this month.

At the start of a two-day costs hearing, Associated Newspapers demanded an immediate 'payment on account' of £9,950,624.37 from Prince Harry and the other claimants, to be paid within 14 days of the court order.

The publisher is seeking to have its costs assessed on the indemnity basis, a more punitive scale that could lift any cap on recoverable fees and push the total bill towards £34 million.

High Court Throws Out All 97 Claims

The dispute follows Mr Justice Matthew Nicklin's ruling earlier this month throwing out all 97 claims brought against Associated Newspapers Limited by the Duke of Sussex, Sir Elton John, Liz Hurley, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and others, who had accused the publisher of phone hacking, bugging and blagging.

In a 426-page ruling, the judge said there was no evidence the Mail titles had engaged in the alleged 'abhorrent criminal activity', stressing that suspicion was not enough.

Associated Newspapers denied the allegations, saying its journalists relied on more routine sources, from friends and social circles to press officers and previous reporting.

Insurance Cover Under Strain

Each claimant had taken out an individual after-the-event insurance policy worth £2.35 million, collectively providing about £16.2 million in cover.

On paper, that should cushion the blow, but some in the claimants' camp fear the insurer might push back if the judge concludes their conduct was unreasonable enough to merit sanction rather than a routine costs order.

Associated argues indemnity costs are justified because of what it calls the 'outrageous', 'highly unreasonable' and 'improper' behaviour of the claimants over four years of litigation.

In written submissions, Antony White KC accused the group of advancing 'headline-grabbing' allegations in a 'chaotic and ill-disciplined' way that inflated costs, withheld documents, ignored court orders and persisted with claims backed by the 'obviously discredited' evidence of private investigator Gavin Burrows, long after he said his earlier statements were false.

Publisher Alleges Case Aimed To 'Catch More Fish'

Associated points out that when the claims were announced in October 2022, they were launched in a 'blaze of publicity' with emotive language it says was designed to flush out more potential claimants rather than simply seek justice.

Mr White told the court that 77 journalists, editors and executives were accused of serious wrongdoing even though only 23 had any real link to the pleaded allegations, calling it a strategic attempt to 'catch more fish'.

Associated further alleged that payments were made to potential witnesses, in some cases to alter their evidence, and that there was a deliberate scheme to obscure the true origin of the claims. It described the 'Leveson Lies' allegations, in which senior Mail figures were accused of misleading the Leveson inquiry, as 'cavalier' and politically driven.

Harry's Post‑Verdict Statement Under Scrutiny

After the ruling, Harry and Baroness Lawrence issued a joint statement calling the judgment a 'complete and obvious whitewash'. Mr White said those comments were calculated to generate 'global publicity' for the allegation the judge had just dismissed.

Lawyers for the claimants pushed back. Nicholas Bacon KC argued Harry had 'brought this claim in good faith', noting the court had accepted his evidence about believing he was targeted. 'The costs to be ordered at this hearing concern the action itself, not the reaction to it,' he told the judge.

The claimants have offered an interim payment of around £7.9 million and say Associated's bills are 'eye-watering'. With insurance cover looking tight if indemnity costs are ordered, some individuals could personally face legal bills running into the millions.