The key facts
- Harry, Elton John and four other claimants have applied to the Court of Appeal for permission to challenge the verdict in favour of Associated Newspapers
- After 11 weeks of hearings, judge Matthew Nicklin found no evidence of unlawful information gathering
- Initial legal costs are estimated at about £9.5 million; the final amount has not yet been determined
Celebrities seek a review of the verdict
Prince Harry, musician Elton John and four other well-known Britons have applied to the Court of Appeal for permission to challenge their loss in a long-running case against the publisher of the Daily Mail — Associated Newspapers. The ruling is estimated to expose them to costs of more than £50 million. This is reported by The Guardian, which is cited by Life.ru.
Who is challenging what
Besides the Duke of Sussex and the singer, the application was filed by John's husband David Furnish, actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence. The claimants intend to challenge two points at once: the dismissal of the claims against the publisher and the ruling on legal costs. Their representative said they consider the court's decision legally and factually wrong.
What decided the case
The lawsuit concerned allegations of unlawful gathering of confidential information: the claimants argued that journalists and the private investigators they hired intercepted phone calls, accessed voicemails and obtained personal information by deception. Associated Newspapers denied wrongdoing, pointing to lawful sources — acquaintances of the celebrities, press secretaries and previously published information. After 11 weeks of hearings, judge Matthew Nicklin ruled in favour of the publisher: in a 436-page judgment he stated that the claimants had not proved the use of unlawful methods, and that mere speculation is insufficient if the same information could have been obtained lawfully.
The financial side and context
The financial consequences are already being felt: according to Life.ru, in August the court ordered Harry, John and the other participants in the proceedings to pay the publisher about £9.5 million ($13 million). This is only an initial payment — the final amount of costs is yet to be determined separately, and there is a risk that insurance coverage will not be enough to meet all the claims.
The case's place in Harry's litigation history
The defeat in this case became a notable milestone: as Life.ru noted, after Associated Newspapers' victory in July, Prince Harry has no other pending lawsuits against British tabloids. Earlier he won a phone-hacking case against Mirror Group Newspapers, and in 2025 News Group Newspapers settled a separate dispute, paying compensation and acknowledging wrongdoing by private investigators working for The Sun. The appeal could change this picture, but for now the court only has to grant permission to review — the outcome of the hearing is not predetermined.
