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

Social justice campaigner Doreen Lawrence will not be hit with a multimillion-pound bill for a failed attempt to sue the publisher of the Daily Mail, the Guardian understands.

Lawrence, the mother of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, whose case was the subject of a long-running Daily Mail campaign from the late 1990s, was one of seven plaintiffs defeated in court over allegations Mail titles used illegal methods to source stories.

The high court rejected all claims made by the Duke of Sussex, Lawrence and others who alleged wiretapping, landline tapping, phone hacking and “revealing” private information.

Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL), 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 case.

The stage is now set for a fight over the cost of the case. Estimates have been put at as much as £50 million, according to Mail figures, but other sources close to the case said the actual costs could be a fraction of that amount following previous court rulings.

But whatever the outcome, it is understood Lawrence, who was persuaded to join the case by Prince Harry and his legal team, will not have to pay any share of the costs of the failed case.

“No one will see her coming out of pocket, least of all the duke, who is protective of Doreen,” said a source familiar with the matter.

Hearings to be held later this month will begin to determine the costs of the case.

Insurance was taken out to cover the plaintiffs and their lawyers in case of losing the case. The court approved a budget of £4.1 million for the claimants and £4.4 million for ANL, which will be covered by insurance.

But the judge, Mr Justice Nicklin, could rule that the plaintiffs’ team should foot more of ANL’s bill. It is possible that the claimants’ insurer may also dispute their policy, but it is not yet known whether they wish to do so.

Lawrence was initially alerted to the incident in a personal email from Harry. In written evidence given to the hearing, Lawrence said the duke told him that some information “had come to light and that was something I would like to know about”.

He later met Anjlee Sangani, the lawyer involved in the case, and David Sherborne, the plaintiffs’ lead lawyer, at the Corinthia hotel in London. They told him the information “came to light by accident” during a conversation between two private investigators.

During the actual trial, this alleged conversation did not take place.

Lawrence was told at the Corinthia meeting that a private investigator had been asked to monitor his phone bills, bank accounts and private communications. ANL has always denied any wrongdoing.

Five Mail stories about Lawrence were part of the case. Nicklin ruled that the plaintiffs’ legal team failed to prove that any of the plaintiffs were involved in the illegal collection of information.

It made the same finding for all 55 stories cited by plaintiffs in the case; He also did so for three other alleged incidents that did not lead to the stories being published.

In evidence at the trial, former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre said Lawrence’s involvement in the case was “gravely hurtful” given his newspaper’s campaign to bring his son’s killers to justice.

The claimants, who include Elton John and his partner David Furnish, actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost as well as former Liberal Democrat minister Simon Hughes, will also have to hold talks to decide whether to challenge this sweeping win for the Mail titles.