Prince Harry, Elton John and other celebrities hit with initial $13 million bill after losing case against UK tabloid

Key Points:

• Prince Harry and six other high-profile figures, including Elton John and David Furnish, must pay an initial £9.5 million ($13 million) toward the legal costs of British tabloid publisher Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) after losing a case over alleged unlawful information gathering.
• The group lost the case concerning stories published between 1997 and 2015, with the court ruling they must pay costs by August 28, though this is only an initial sum and not the full amount, which ANL estimates could reach £34.5 million ($47 million).
• The court criticized the claimants for pursuing an overly broad case and ruled that ANL does not need to prove the reasonableness of its costs claim, placing the burden on the claimants to challenge it if they wish.
• Other claimants included Doreen Lawrence, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost, and Simon Hughes, who expressed disappointment and is considering an appeal; all allegations of illegal information gathering by ANL were dismissed by the judge.
• Harry previously described the court's July ruling as a "whitewash," highlighting his ongoing fraught relationship with the British tabloid press, which contributed to his and his wife's relocation to the US.