Doreen Lawrence will not foot any of legal bill in failed attempt to sue Daily Mail

Lawrence arriving at the high court in London to testify in the lawsuit against Associated Newspapers. Photograph: Corey Rudy/Reuters View image in fullscreen Lawrence arriving at the high court in London to testify in the lawsuit against Associated Newspapers. Photograph: Corey Rudy/Reuters Doreen Lawrence will not foot any of legal bill in failed attempt to sue Daily Mail Exclusive: Source close to co-claimant Prince Harry says he is ‘protective’ of social campaigner and will not ‘see her out of pocket’ Doreen Lawrence, the social justice campaigner, will not foot any of a multimillion-pound bill for the failed attempt to sue the publisher of the Daily Mail, the Guardian understands. Lawrence, the mother of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence , whose case was the subject of a long-running Daily Mail campaign from the late 1990s, was one of seven claimants defeated in court over claims the Mail titles used unlawful methods to source stories. The high court dismissed all the claims brought by the Duke of Sussex, Lawrence and others, who had made allegations of bugging, landline tapping, phone hacking and “blagging” private information. Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday and Mail Online, has already said it will seek to recover its significant costs from defending the legal action. The scene is now set for a battle over the costs of the case. Estimates have been put at as much as £50m by Mail figures, though other sources close to the case said the real costs could be a small fraction of that amount, following previous court rulings. However, it is understood that whatever the outcome, Lawrence, who was convinced to join the legal action by Prince Harry and his legal team, will not have to pay any share of the costs of the failed case. “Nobody, least of all the duke, who is very protective over Doreen, is going to see her out of pocket,” said a source familiar with the matter. Hearings later this month will begin to hammer out the costs of the case. Insurance was taken out to cover the claimants and their lawyers in the event of losing the action. The court approved budgets of £4.1m for the claimants and £4.4m for ANL, which would be covered by the insurance. The judge, Mr Justice Nicklin, could, however, rule that the claimants’ team should pay more of ANL’s bill. It is also possible the claimants’ insurer could challenge their policy, though it is not yet known whether it wishes to do so. skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter promotion An angry prince and leaky friends: key moments in the Daily Mail hacking trial Read more Lawrence was initially alerted to the case by a personal email from Harry. In written testimony submitted to the trial, Lawrence said the duke told her that some information “had come to light and that it was something I would want to know about”. She then met Anjlee Sangani, a solicitor involved in the case, and David Sherborne, the lead barrister for the claimants, a