The judge described the size of the costs in the claims as “unprecedented” for a High Court media law case. ANL, which also publishes The Mail on Sunday, has asked for more than £9.9 million as an interim payment ahead of future hearings to decide its legal costs in depth. Lawyers for the group of household names, also including David Furnish, Sadie Frost, Liz Hurley and Sir Simon Hughes, said the interim payment should be just over £7.9 million. Nicolas Bacon KC, for the group, said in written submissions that the level of interim payment sought by ANL was “manifestly excessive”. The barrister added that the group of household names has obtained insurance cover of a combined £16.2 million.