Prince Harry, Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley and Others Ordered to Pay Daily Mail’s Publisher an Initial $13M Over Failed Invasion of Privacy Case
Prince Harry, Elton John, Elizabeth Hurley and four others have been ordered to pay an initial 9.5 million pounds ($13 million) to the publisher of Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper following their failed invasion of privacy case.
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In a judgment Friday, Justice Matthew Nicklin said Friday in a written statement that the payment will have to made by Aug. 28. The payment is at the upper end of expectations.
The claimants lost a High Court case in London last month during which they had alleged malpractice, such as the illegal hacking of phones, on the part of Associated Newspapers.
The publisher has said it accumulated more than 34 million pounds during the case. The remainder of the costs will have to be reimbursed by a later date by the claimants, who are insured for around half that total.
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The publisher had strongly denied the claims made during the 11-week trial in London, which ended on July 7 when Nicklin said there had been a shortage of evidence to support the claims and found a possibility that the reporting came from legitimate sources.
The other high-profile figures behind the case were Doreen Lawrence, the anti‑racism activist whose son Stephen was stabbed to death in 1993 as he waited for a bus; Elton John’s film producer husband David Furnish; actor Sadie Frost; and politician Simon Hughes.
The judgment comes two days after it was made public that Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, are moving back to the U.K. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who are no longer working royals, decamped to California more than six years ago but will relocate back later this month to live in a nonroyal residence outside London. News surfaced Friday that Markle has been offered an acting role in the U.K.
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