High Court judge ‘concerned’ by costs in Prince Harry’s phone hacking case

A High Court judge has warned he is “concerned” about the high costs of Prince Harry’s phone hacking case against the publishers of the Daily Mail.

The Duke of Sussex is one of seven high-profile people suing Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) for alleged misuse of private information.

Other claimants in the case include Sir Elton John, Liz Hurley and Baroness Lawrence, mother of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.

At a two-day preliminary hearing, Mr Justice Nicklin told the lawyers representing both sides “the court is concerned about the proportionality of the costs”.

He advised them: “You are entitled to spend as much as you like… but the question is how much you can recover.”

The hearing was told the costs for both sides would total more than £38m.

Quoting the costs of other civil litigation cases, the judge questioned whether the legal teams in this case were “a million miles away from reality” with the figures discussed.

He also asked whether a settlement could be reached to avoid a full trial.

But the lawyer representing the Duke of Sussex and other claimants, David Sherborne, said “non-monetary relief” was also important.

The claimants are making a number of allegations against the newspaper group, including the hacking of voicemails, the use of private investigators to bug cars and “blag” private personal information.

The actress Sadie Frost, David Furnish, and the former Liberal Democrat MP Sir Simon Hughes are also involved in the litigation.

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This is part of Prince Harry’s long-standing fight with Fleet Street. Last year, he won his case against the publishers of the Mirror, with a court ruling there was evidence of “widespread and habitual” phone hacking.

The duke is also bringing a case against News Group Newspapers, publishers of the Sun and the defunct News of the World, with the trial due to start in January 2025.

Associated Newspapers Limited strongly denies any wrongdoing and is contesting all the claimants’ allegations.

A trial date was set for January 2026, with proceedings scheduled to last for nine weeks.