Prince Harry and several well-known figures are seeking permission to appeal against High Court rulings that went in favour of the publisher Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Daily Mail. The claimants had brought proceedings alleging that the company's newspapers gathered information unlawfully, and they lost their cases before the court. Sky News has reported that Harry intends to appeal after his lawsuit was dismissed.
It remains unclear whether the appeal will be granted or, if it is heard, whether it will succeed. An application for permission to appeal is the first step, and the claimants will need the court to accept that their grounds merit further examination before any challenge to the High Court findings can proceed. Until that decision is made, the original judgments stand, and the publisher has not been found liable on the claims that were brought.
The dispute has also produced a separate costs ruling, which has become one of its most immediate financial consequences. The judge ordered the claimants to pay £9,544,355 as an initial contribution towards the publisher's legal costs. They were given seven days to make the payment. That ruling was issued in August, and it was described as an initial sum rather than a final figure.
The court has said that further hearings will be held to fix the total costs. Those hearings will determine how much the claimants must ultimately pay in addition to the initial contribution, so the overall bill is not yet known. Because the total has not been set, the full financial exposure of the claimants cannot be calculated from the figures reported so far.
The case centres on allegations that Associated Newspapers obtained private information through unlawful means, a claim the publisher contested in court. The High Court ruled against the claimants in their individual cases, and the costs order reflects the outcome of that litigation. The legal battle has therefore moved from the question of liability to the questions of appeal and costs.
The outcome of the appeal bid will depend first on the court's decision on permission, and then, if permission is granted, on the arguments heard at a later stage. The timing of the further costs hearings is also a factor to watch, since they will set the final amount the claimants must pay. For now, the case remains unresolved, with the High Court decisions in place and the appeal and total costs still to be determined.