By Molly Claire Goddard
7:04am PST, Dec 10, 2025
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Prince Harry should rethink pursuing legal action against British tabloids. As the Duke of Sussex's court case against
Daily Mail and
Mail on Sunday prepares for trial in January, judges warn of the significant "consequences" if the proceedings continue.
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In 2022,
Prince Harry and other high-profile claimants, including
Elton John and actress
Sadie Frost, sued the U.K. publications for $50 million. The group cited alleged unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking, bugging and impersonation for private records spanning multiple decades.
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The plaintiffs are
reportedly collectively insured for $18 million to meet the "totality" of the opposing party's costs. However, the case was complicated by some of the plaintiffs obtaining solo policies totaling $2 million.
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Judges
David Cook and Mr.
Justice Nicklin issued a grave warning to the plaintiffs about the financial stakes in the case. "It is imperative that the parties and in particular the individual claimants have the clearest possible understanding as to the consequences of the way in which this litigation is being conducted," they said in a statement via
Daily Express. "Substantial costs have already been incurred and the parties will soon be incurring more substantial costs in preparation for the trial next year."
The legal experts also called the cost of the suit "clearly outside the range of the reasonable."
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In 2023, a U.K. judge ruled the case could move forward in litigation. "As we have maintained since the outset, we bring our claims over the deplorable and illegal activities which took place over many years, including private investigators being hired to place secretly listening devices inside our cars and homes, the tapping of our phone calls, corrupt payments to police for inside information, and the illegal accessing of our medical information from hospitals and financial information from banks," the plaintiffs said in a collective
statement. "We intend to uncover the truth at trial and hold those responsible at Associated Newspapers fully accountable."
