The High Court's dismissal of Prince Harry's claims against Associated Newspapers has left the royal and his fellow claimants facing a potentially massive bill.
Mr Justice Nicklin threw out all 97 allegations of unlawful information gathering brought by the Duke of Sussex, Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Baroness Lawrence, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost, and Sir Simon Hughes, ruling that suspicion alone was not enough and that the claimants had failed to prove the publisher obtained information unlawfully.
The litigation has already lasted for several years, and the publisher has reportedly spent more than £50 million on legal costs, with the financial consequences now potentially becoming almost as significant as the judgment itself.
A former Costs Judge at the Royal Courts of Justice warns that the financial reckoning is only just beginning, with the publisher likely to push for costs on the indemnity basis, a form of order reserved for cases where the court considers a party's conduct has fallen outside the norm.
Indemnity costs orders are far from theoretical, with Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell being hit with a £40m costs bill on the indemnity basis following its failed National Lottery claim.
The big unknown in this case is insurance, with the claimants' after-the-event insurance coverage remaining unclear, and the possibility of them being personally exposed to a share of a bill running into tens of millions of pounds.
A two-day hearing to deal with consequential matters, including costs, is expected to begin on 29 July, serving as a stark reminder that losing at trial is often only the start of the financial pain.
