The London High Court ruled on August 21, 2026, that Prince Harry, Elton John, and five other claimants lost their privacy lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited, publisher of the Daily Mail, and must pay an initial £9.54 million in legal costs on an indemnity basis [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The judge, Matthew Nicklin, criticized the claimants' legal approach as "well outside the norm," noting the claimants failed to prove their allegations and had pursued the litigation in an unreasonable way [2, 3, 4, 5].
The lawsuit accused the Daily Mail publisher of phone hacking and illegal information gathering, but the court dismissed these privacy claims in an earlier ruling on July 7, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Judge Nicklin said, "The claimants failed to prove their pleaded allegations," and called some accusations speculative and not formally withdrawn [2]. Associated Newspapers' legal costs are to be paid on an indemnity basis, meaning the publisher does not have to prove the costs were reasonable or proportionate [1, 3, 4, 5].
Associated Newspapers may claim up to £34.5 million in legal costs, a total the court described as excessive and subject to future examination [2, 5]. The initial payment of £9.54 million, equivalent to roughly 16.5 million Singapore dollars or 414 million New Taiwan dollars, must be made by August 28, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
The claimants also include Elton John's husband David Furnish, actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost, along with Prince Harry and two others [2, 3, 5]. Prince Harry has won previous privacy cases against other UK tabloids, but this ruling marks a significant legal defeat [3, 4]. Prince Harry called the judgment "a complete whitewash," while an Associated Newspapers spokesperson said the ruling was "an overwhelming victory for the Daily Mail and its journalism" [1].
Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle plan to move back to the UK with their two children by the end of August 2026, shortly after the legal costs payment deadline [2, 3, 4, 5].
