Prince Harry, Elton John and actress Liz Hurley are among seven prominent personalities ordered by a London High Court to pay £9.5 million (about $13 million) to Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail, after losing a privacy case against the media organisation.

The judge, Sir Matthew Nicklin, on Friday directed the plaintiffs to make an initial deposit of £9.5 million before August 28 as part of the payment for all legal expenses incurred by the Daily Mail during the case, after the plaintiffs failed to prove that their privacy rights were breached.

At issue was the group of seven’s accusation that the Daily Mail used private investigators to listen to their phone calls, track their emails and deceive their acquaintances into divulging information about their activities. Associated Newspapers denied the accusation.

The judge said the plaintiffs had not built an airtight case and faulted them for lacking sufficient evidence to substantiate their claim “that the information complained of had been obtained unlawfully.”

The newspaper claimed to have amassed £34.5 million in legal fees over the matter, requesting reimbursement. While the judge ordered Prince Harry and Elton John to make the first deposit of £9.5 million, he admitted that the funds “appear exceptionally high” and “largely unexplained.”

The judge’s indication that the first tranche of millions had a payment deadline suggested that Mr Nicklin could grant the newspaper’s compensation request and ask the plaintiffs to pay as much as the requested £9.5 million.

He rejected a request by the plaintiffs to limit the compensation to between £16 million and £18 million.

“That would be vulnerable to the charge that it was arbitrary. It would also risk unfairness to Associated, because it would deprive Associated of the opportunity to demonstrate, on evidence and in the proper forum, that costs above the cap were reasonably incurred,” the judge wrote in an opinion on Friday.

Still, the judge voiced concerns about the enormity of the damages claimed by the newspaper.

“I regard a claim for costs in excess of £34 million as, on its face, excessive and as giving rise to real concerns as to whether all of the costs now claimed by Associated were reasonably incurred and are reasonable in amount,” he wrote.

The plaintiffs include Prince Harry, Elton John and his husband, David Furnish; Simon Hughes, an ex-legislator; Doreen Lawrence, a member of the House of Lords; and actresses Sadie Frost and Liz Hurley.

The fee will be easy to settle, at least the $13 million, according to the Law Society Gazette, a British legal newspaper. The group of celebrities that brought the claim have legal insurance covering them for £16.2 million in the event of losing the case.