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Prince Harry, Sir Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley are among six claimants applying to appeal the dismissal of their privacy lawsuits against Associated Newspapers.
Prince Harry and five other high-profile figures are seeking to challenge the High Court ruling that dismissed their privacy lawsuits against the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday.
The group includes Prince Harry, singer Sir Elton John, actress Elizabeth Hurley, Sir Elton's husband David Furnish, actress Sadie Frost and political campaigner Baroness Lawrence. They filed applications with the Court of Appeal on Friday to challenge the judgements.
In July, Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed all the allegations of unlawful information gathering after an 11-week trial in London. Associated Newspapers Limited strongly denied the claims, and a spokesperson for the publisher described the judgement as an "overwhelming victory for the Daily Mail and its journalists".
The claimants had alleged that journalists working for the titles commissioned private investigators to commit a series of unlawful acts between 1993 and 2011. Prince Harry testified in person and claimed the details that appeared in 14 articles about him "plainly" proved journalists were listening in to phone calls, but the judge said he had failed to prove that.
The claimants are also challenging a subsequent indemnity costs order. They face paying joint legal costs of up to £34.5m. Mr Justice Nicklin ordered the claimants to make an initial payment of £9.54m while the final total was calculated.
A spokesperson for the group said: "The claimants respectfully disagree with those unprecedented decisions, which they consider to be legally and factually flawed."
The statement did not reference Liberal Democrat politician Sir Simon Hughes, who was part of the action. The BBC has contacted Sir Simon to establish whether he is joining the appeal. After the costs ruling, he told the BBC he was "disappointed" and would take "the time necessary to consider both the substantive and the costs judgment and whether to pursue appeals against decisions in either judgment or both".
There was no comment from a spokesperson for Harry or Associated Newspapers.
The appeal would revive one of the highest-profile privacy battles between public figures and the British press, with potentially tens of millions of pounds in legal costs at stake.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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