Prince Harry, along with six others, has been ordered to pay more than £9.5million to the Daily Mail’s publisher.
It marks the first round of legal costs following their failed High Court case.
The high-profile figures, also including Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Sir Elton John, sued Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL) over allegations of unlawful information-gathering.
ANL strongly denied the claims, which were heard at an 11-week trial in London earlier this year.
Judge Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed all the cases in a ruling on July 7.
The cases returned to the High Court for a two-day hearing on costs, during which the court was told ANL’s total costs exceeded £34m.
In a judgment today, August 21, Mr Justice Nicklin ruled the group of seven must pay £9,544,355 by August 28 as an initial contribution to the publisher’s costs ahead of further hearings to determine the total sum.
He said: “The claimants and their advisers have been on notice, since the hearing, that this would be the date for payment on account.”
Mr Justice Nicklin also ruled that ANL’s costs should be determined on an indemnity basis, which is more favourable to the publisher in terms of the amount it can recover, aside from where orders had already been made.
ANL, which also publishes the Mail on Sunday, had asked for more than £9.9m as an interim payment, while lawyers for the claimants, which also includes David Furnish, Sadie Frost, Liz Hurley, and Sir Simon Hughes, said the interim payment should be just over £7.9m.
The judgment comes after Wednesday’s news that the Duke of Sussex and his wife, Meghan Markle, will be returning to the UK for an “extended period”.