Prince Harry and six other high-profile figures have been ordered to pay an initial £9.54m in legal costs to the publisher of the Daily Mail after losing their High Court privacy case.

High Court judge Mr Justice Nicklin ruled that the group must make the interim payment to Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) by 28 August. That figure is only the starting point, with the claimants potentially liable to pay up to £25m more in costs further down the line.

Alongside the Duke of Sussex, the claimants in the lawsuit are Sir Elton John, his husband David Furnish, actor Liz Hurley, actor Sadie Frost, former MP Sir Simon Hughes, and campaigner Baroness Doreen Lawrence.

The group brought the action against ANL over allegations of unlawful information-gathering, which the newspaper publisher strenuously denied. During the trial, dozens of witnesses gave evidence, including Prince Harry—who flew in from the United States to attend court in person—alongside current and former Associated Newspapers journalists and executives who denied any illegal activity.

On 7 July, Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed the claims, ruling that the claimants had failed to prove their allegations. In his judgment, he made an exceptional order requiring the public figures to pay up to £34.5m in total costs incurred by the newspaper group.

The judge explained that the exceptional order was made because of the way the legal action had been brought, pointing directly to unsupportable claims that senior executives from the publisher had lied to the Leveson public inquiry. He also ordered that ANL's costs be determined on an indemnity basis, which allows the publisher to recover a more favourable proportion of its expenses.

The two sides had disputed the amount of the initial bill ahead of deeper cost assessments. ANL's lawyers had requested an interim payment of more than £9.9m, while legal representatives for the claimants argued the figure should be set at just over £7.9m before the judge settled on £9.54m.

Following the decision, ANL released a statement calling the ruling "a devastating critique of an attempt to destroy a newspaper and the reputations of its journalists, editors and executives".

Reaction from the claimants was critical of the court's outcome. In a joint statement, Prince Harry and Baroness Lawrence—whose son Stephen Lawrence was murdered in 1993—said: "We came to Court seeking justice and accountability. But we have received neither." They added: "It is a complete and obvious whitewash, but sadly not altogether unexpected."

The costs ruling comes just days after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced plans to return to the UK, where their children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, are enrolled to start school this September.

What we don't know yet is whether the group will succeed in challenging the outcome. Prince Harry and the other six claimants have until 2 October to attempt to launch an appeal against the dismissal.

I'll be following this one as the appeal deadline approaches and future hearings determine the final cost total — check back for updates.