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A royal correspondent has claimed that she secured stories on Prince Harry through an “excellent, reliable network of contacts” which included members of his inner circle, describing claims of phone hacking as “nonsense”.
Katie Nicholl worked as both diary and royal editor at the Mail on Sunday, and is accused of writing seven articles on the Duke of Sussex which were sourced through unlawful information gathering.
Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, strongly denies the claims made by the prince, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Sadie Frost, Liz Hurley and Sir Simon Hughes.
Ms Nicholl denied the phone-hacking claims and said that they were potentially damaging for her career, stating: “The suggestion that a reference to a telephone call or message indicates I have tapped that person’s landline or hacked their voicemail is nonsense.”
In her witness statement, she said that she had “excellent connections with aristocrats and socialites”, which included people who tipped her off if Prince Harry was in attendance at an event or a party.
In her written statement, she said: “These sources would often tell me who Prince Harry was meeting up with, going out with, enjoying texts and conversations with.
“They had an intimate knowledge of his social life both through spending time with Prince Harry and his group of friends and having access to his social media.
“These were acquaintances who knew him or knew people very close to the Prince.”
This included the late socialite Tara Palmer Tomkinson, who Ms Nicholl describes as a “close friend”, as well as the late Elizabeth Anson, who was a party planner to A-list celebrities and a first cousin to Queen Elizabeth II.
She also said that she was “friendly” with Natalie Pinkham, who briefly dated the prince, who would sometimes speak to her off the record.
“I also had another confidential source who was a friend of Prince Harry and part of his inner circle.
“This friend was often there when Prince Harry was on his phone and therefore sometimes knew who Prince Harry was speaking to and was in a position to overhear his conversations.
“The Prince on at least one occasion showed this person some of his text messages,” she said.
Stories which have been accused of being sourced through unlawful means include articles on his former relationship with Chelsy Davy, as well as an argument between Prince William and Harry with Buckingham Palace over a Princess Diana memorial concert.
Ms Nicholl denied commissioning private investigator Gavin Burrows to uncover information on the former couple, and said that she had a source who was a close friend of Ms Davy who regularly gave “reliable and accurate information” about her.
During his cross-examination, the duke told the High Court: “My social circles were not leaky, I want to make that absolutely clear.”
He added that if he became suspicious of someone, “I would have to cut contact with this person”.
The trial before Mr Justice Nicklin is due to conclude in March, with a judgment in writing due at a later date.
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