Prince Harry to pay over £48,000 in legal costs after losing part of libel battle

Prince Harry has been ordered to pay more than £48,000 in legal costs to the publishers of the Mail on Sunday after losing part of a libel battle. The dispute stems from an article about Prince Harry’s security arrangements, which the prince claims falsely suggested he had “lied” and “cynically” tried to manipulate public opinion.

The Mail on Sunday article discussed changes to Prince Harry’s publicly funded security after he had stopped being a working royal and moved to the United States. The headline alleged that the duke had tried to keep his legal fight with the government over police bodyguards a secret, but his PR machine tried to put a positive spin on the dispute after the story broke.

Prince Harry’s lawyers attempted to strike out part of the newspaper’s defense, arguing it had no real prospect of success. However, the judge ruled last week that the case should proceed to trial, as the newspaper group’s argument of “honest opinion” had a real prospect of successfully defending the case.

The trial is expected to last three to four days, with the costs of this part of the case amounting to £48,447 to be paid this month. This sum is only a small fraction of the overall legal costs involved in the long-running libel case. The trial is scheduled to be heard between mid-May and the end of July next year.