Prince Harry (41) and six co-plaintiffs lost in court against the publisher of the Daily Mail, the Mail on Sunday, and their online presence. According to a British media report, the Duke of Sussex and the other plaintiffs could now face extraordinarily high costs. They could face legal costs of up to 50 million pounds, writes the British Guardian. Currently, this would correspond to costs of more than 58.5 million euros. The publisher Associated Newspapers Limited has indicated that it wants to be reimbursed for corresponding expenses.
The plaintiffs, including not only Harry but also actress Liz Hurley (61), pop superstar Elton John (79), and his husband David Furnish (63), could have to bear the costs. A spokesperson for Associated Newspapers is quoted on the Daily Mail website in English as saying that these were misguided legal proceedings that "wasted so much valuable court time and more than £50 million in legal costs." They would endeavor to resolve outstanding issues, "including the reimbursement of costs" incurred on the defendants' side. Harry or other plaintiffs have not yet commented on this.
Prince Harry sued over alleged spying
Prince Harry and the co-plaintiffs had accused the publisher of using allegedly unlawful procurement of private information for research on published articles. According to the allegations, private investigators were deployed and phones were wiretapped. The defendant had consistently rejected this.
The court had to determine whether the plaintiffs could prove that the articles or other incidents were the result of unlawful information gathering. A multi-week trial took place between January and March 2026. The verdict was announced on July 7. All claims were dismissed. Harry and the other plaintiffs failed to conclusively prove the use of illegal methods.
For Harry, this was the third case in which he had sued British tabloid media in recent years. First, he was victorious against the publisher Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) and later settled with them and resolved the remaining parts of his lawsuit. In early 2025, Harry reached a settlement with the publisher of The Sun. Both cases also involved allegedly illegal research methods.
