One of the seven claimants in Prince Harry's failed privacy case against the Daily Mail says he 'was not a campaigner' against the publisher

By RYAN HOOPER, CRIME CORRESPONDENT Published: 17:57, 30 July 2026 | Updated: 17:58, 30 July 2026 One of the famous names in Prince Harry's failed privacy case against the Daily Mail has appeared to distance himself from his fellow claimants. Former Government minister Sir Simon Hughes said he did not 'plan to target' publisher Associated Newspapers during a court hearing today. Sir Simon, Prince Harry and five other claimants will need to wait to discover exactly how much they will have to pay towards the Mail's legal costs after failing in their claims that journalists hacked, bugged and blagged to get information for stories about them unlawfully. The claimants – who also include Baroness (Doreen) Lawrence, Sir Elton John, his husband David Furnish, model Elizabeth Hurley and actress Sadie Frost – had all of their claims thrown out in full earlier this month in a landmark ruling. Associated Newspapers said its costs in defending the four-year legal action amounted to £34million. The publisher argued the 'cavalier' manner in which the claims were put at trial, with allegations unceremoniously dropped or pursued despite an obvious paucity of evidence, were so far 'outside the norm' that costs should be awarded on an 'indemnity' basis. This means the court would not have to decide if the publisher's costs are proportional to the case. The claimants described Associated's costs as 'eyewatering', and £18.6million more than the budget agreed by the court before the trial started. Sir Simon Hughes, the former justice minister, was one of the seven claimants The judge, Mr Justice Nicklin, is set to make a decision on the proportionality of the costs paid by the claimants next month, and a final determination on the total sum to be paid by Prince Harry and the others at a later date. None of the claimants were in court for the two-day costs hearing at the High Court this week. But in an intervention today, Nicholas Bacon KC, on behalf of the seven, said he was contacted by former justice minister Sir Simon overnight 'to say some things on his behalf'. He said: 'He wishes to make it clear he was not a campaigner against Associated. 'It was not part of his case or plan to target ANL, its people or its papers. 'At no time did he publicly ally his case to the other claimants. 'He is not a celebrity and was at the time a responsible senior MP and minister of state.' Antony White KC, on behalf of Associated, said Sir Simon had accused Associated 'of widespread criminality of the most heinous form'. 'He has not withdrawn any of those allegations - not one,' he said. The judge said there would 'be time for reflection for Sir Simon Hughes to review how the case was conducted and the extent to which it doesn't meet the objective he was looking for'. Mr Justice Nicklin will decide how much money the claimants will have to pay in the interim, and whether the total sum will be on an indemnity basis, in a judgment due from the week commencing August 17.