Prince Harry latest court case set to cost whopping £38m as judge to fix 2026 trial date

Prince Harry’s High Court claim against the publisher of the Daily Mail is expected to go to trial in 2026, a High Court judge suggested this morning.

The Duke of Sussex, 40, is one of a group of high-profile individuals, including Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Sir Elton John, his husband David Furnish, actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley, and politician Sir Simon Hughes, bringing legal action against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL).

They have accused the publisher of allegedly carrying out or commissioning unlawful activities such as hiring private investigators to place listening devices inside cars, “blagging” private records, burglaries to order and accessing and recording private phone conversations.

ANL firmly denies the allegations and is defending the legal action, claiming the allegations are “lurid” and “simply preposterous”.

At a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, which was attended by Lady Lawrence, judge Mr Justice Nicklin was told that the costs of the legal claim brought by the group of individuals are budgeted for a total of more than £38million.

In written submissions, David Sherborne, for the group of individuals, said their current cost budget is £18,399,428.84, including incurred costs of £3,890,120.02.

Mr Sherborne added that ANL’s budgeted costs are £19,850,282.40, including incurred costs of £8,125,380.40.
Elsewhere in the hearing judge Mr Justice Nicklin said that it was important to progress the case to an eventual trial.

He said: “My broad objective is we fix a trial date… It will probably start on 14 January 2026.”
The judge continued that the date may change and repeated that it was an “objective”.