Prince Harry and five other prominent figures have launched a legal challenge against a judge’s verdict in their unsuccessful claims against the Daily Mail’s publisher, Associated Newspapers .

Harry, Doreen Lawrence, the mother of the murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence, the singer Elton John and his husband, David Furnish, and the actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost faced a legal bill of more than £50m after losing their case claiming that Mail journalists used unlawful methods to source stories.

In an unequivocal ruling in July, Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed their case, stating that the claimants had not proved any information had been obtained unlawfully.

His 436-page written verdict, after an 11-week trial, said it could not be inferred that a story had been obtained unlawfully if there remained a legitimate and realistic legal way in which it could have been sourced.

In a statement issued on Friday, a spokesperson for Harry and his five fellow claimants said: “We confirm that the claimants…