Prince Harry, Sir Elton John, and five other high-profile figures have been ordered by the High Court to make an interim payment of £9.54 million to Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail. This ruling follows the dismissal of their privacy lawsuit last month, in which the claimants alleged the publisher engaged in unlawful information gathering. Associated Newspapers has consistently denied these allegations.

Mr. Justice Nicklin, who presided over the case, issued the order for the interim payment, which is due by August 28. The court heard that the publisher’s total legal costs for defending the case exceeded £34 million. While the £9.54 million is an initial payment, reports indicate that the claimants could face a total liability of up to £25 million more depending on the final assessment of costs.

Sources differ slightly in their framing of the judge’s reasoning. The SCMP reports that the judge ruled the lawsuit was conducted in an "unreasonable way," a detail not explicitly highlighted in the reports from the BBC, The Guardian, or The Independent. The Guardian notes that the claims were dismissed following an 11-week trial, emphasizing the publisher's strong denial of the allegations throughout the proceedings.