Prince Harry and six other high-profile claimants have been ordered by a UK High Court judge to make an initial payment of £9.54 million (about Sh1.68 billion) to the publisher of the Daily Mail after losing a privacy lawsuit over alleged unlawful information gathering.
The court order, issued on Friday, August 21, 2026, requires the group to pay the interim legal costs to Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) by August 28.
Importantly, the Sh1.68 billion is not a bill that Prince Harry alone has been ordered to pay. It is an interim payment owed collectively by Harry and his six co-claimants following the failed case. The eventual amount each claimant will personally contribute has not been publicly determined.
Harry brought the case alongside singer Elton John, filmmaker David Furnish, actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, activist Baroness Doreen Lawrence, and former politician Simon Hughes.
The group sued ANL, the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, accusing it of using unlawful methods to obtain private information about them.
Their allegations included claims involving phone tapping, surveillance, obtaining confidential information and using private investigators to gather information. Harry’s case formed part of his wider campaign against British tabloid publishers over alleged intrusion into the private lives of members of the royal family and other public figures.
The claimants alleged that unlawful information gathering had been used in connection with stories published over a number of years. ANL strongly denied the allegations.
The case went to an 11-week trial at the High Court in London. In July 2026, Justice Matthew Nicklin dismissed the claims, finding that the evidence did not establish that the information used in the stories had been obtained unlawfully.
The judge found that the claimants had not provided sufficient evidence to prove that ANL or its publications had engaged in the alleged unlawful practices.
Justice Nicklin was particularly critical of the way the litigation had been pursued, describing the claimants’ conduct as highly unreasonable. Reuters reported that the judge found the allegations relied heavily on speculation rather than evidence capable of meeting the required legal standard.
The case was also damaged by problems surrounding evidence supplied by private investigator Gavin Burrows. A witness statement attributed to him contained serious allegations about surveillance and unlawful information gathering, but Burrows later disputed the statement. The court ultimately found that the evidence did not establish the unlawful conduct alleged by the claimants.
The £9.54 million (Sh1.68 billion) ordered this week is only an interim payment.
ANL has put its total legal costs at about £34.5 million, (Sh6.09 billion). However, the court has not ordered the claimants to immediately pay the entire amount.
The judge ruled that ANL could recover its costs on an indemnity basis, a form of costs award that can allow a successful party to recover a greater proportion of its legal expenses than under the ordinary assessment of costs.
The court will therefore still determine how much of ANL’s claimed legal bill is ultimately recoverable.
ANL, meanwhile, welcomed the judgment as a major victory and said the ruling vindicated its journalism.
The case is particularly significant for Harry because he has previously won or settled several legal battles against British newspapers.
In a separate case against Mirror Group Newspapers, the High Court previously found that some articles involving Harry had resulted from unlawful information gathering, awarding him damages. He also reached a settlement with News Group Newspapers over claims involving The Sun and the now-defunct News of the World.
Harry and the other claimants have until October 2, 2026, to appeal the judgment.
