By Sheila Mckenzie-
Late Caroline Flack’s name has been brought into Prince Harry’s hacking legal suit against the press.
Harry said that the publication of articles by MGN had a deep impact on his personal life. “Every single time one of these articles was written it had an effect on my life,” he said in court on Tuesday. Harry also revealed that he grew concerned when his travel details began appearing in the MGN publications, even when the details weren’t released by the Palace for security reasons. “I am at a complete loss as to how these details were obtained,” he said
Harry added he very much remembered the article and visibly appeared sad a she said ”she is no longer here with us”, citing his experience with her as an example of his claims of how far hacking went into press intrusion.
The prince said he was “livid” when he turned up at a friend’s house to meet Flack and found a photographer from Ikon Pictures taking pictures outside. He said the photo agency had “stalked him” for years and he could not comprehend how it knew where he was going.
Photographs of his meeting with Flack were later published in the People with a story by reporter Katie Hind under the headline: “Harry’s date with Gladiators star,” which described the pair attending a “lively” party at the home of his friend Mark Dyer.
Harry said in his witness statement: “I remember this article, and these photographs, so clearly because at the time, I was so shocked – and livid – that the two photographers from Ikon Pictures knew where we would be and were already there, waiting for us to arrive. They were hiding underneath a car.”
He said he had been talking to Flack for a few weeks and they didn’t tell anyone else about their plans to meet: “Given the fact only the three of us knew the plan, I was highly suspicious and convinced someone had leaked the information to the press.
”I now believe this information had come from our voicemails – mine, Marko’s or Caroline’s. The impact these kinds of stories had on my relationships cannot be underestimated. Even those I trusted the most, I ended up doubting.”
Green, the Mirror’s barrister, suggested the real source of the story was the photo agency, who sold the photographs of the meeting with Flack to the newspaper for £2,500.
The lawyer claimed that many of the stories Harry claims were obtained through illegal means had already been published in other newspapers.
But Harry expressed suspicion about the articles still “suspicious” about some of these articles, which often quoted anonymous “royal sources”, stated that they provided surprisingly detailed information.
Green suggested the prince was keen to be a victim: “So you want to have been phone-hacked?” Harry replied: “No one wants to have been phone-hacked.”
The duke asked why many of the Mirror journalists who wrote the articles in question were not giving evidence to the trial.
Green argued that journalists would have later been taking an “enormous risk” by hacking Harry’s voicemails. “I think there was a risk right from the beginning,” the prince said, adding: “I believe the risk is worth the reward for them.”
Prince Harry has now undergone up to 8 hours of cross examination in the witness box.
He said he lodged this legal suit to protect his wife from the hate and intimidation of the press.