Prince Harry had a good thing going, but the Duke of Sussex was dealt a last-minute blow that could possibly change the entire lawsuit.
King Charles’ youngest son is suing the editor of the Daily Mail for alleged phone hacking and other illegal means to gather information for his articles. Harry is joined by six other claimants, including Sir Elton Jon, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Sir Simon Hughes.
However, in the latest turn of events, Harry’s flirtatious exchange of messages with journalist Charlotte Griffiths was exposed in court, which could affect the verdict in the case, reporter Peter Ford said on 3AW Breakfast with Ross and Russel.
The journalist explained that at that time there were many newspapers that acquired information through private investigators and illicit means, but the Daily Mail had always denied having used such methods.
“Whatever people do, we’ve never done it.” He continued: “The fine print is that we don’t know what private investigators will sometimes do, what we will hire or what independent journalists will use the information we buy. However, for our own staff we can examine it and identify it.”
Prince Harry took on the editor of the Daily Mail and had been successful so far, but the editor said they “weren’t going to bat an eyelid.”
Peter noted that the “last-minute twist” may not end the case, but it will certainly damage his reputation. It would raise questions about their relationship if it went beyond exchanging text messages.
Furthermore, he also said that this also greatly contradicts what Harry has been claiming about his family being “in cahoots with the press,” and the exchange of texts suggests that the Duke was doing the same.
Charlotte Griffiths’ response to ties to Prince Harry
While the texts have now been shared publicly, the discussion was already covered in court by both Charotte and Prince Harry.
Charlotte said in a witness statement that she and Harry “knew each other socially for a while” and that her friends who introduced her to the royals knew she was a journalist working for royal correspondent Katie Nicholl.
She claimed Harry sent her his number via Facebook for a party he was hosting with a mutual friend.
Meanwhile, Harry emphasized that he is “not friends with any of these journalists” and in another instance shared that he “only met once” with Charlotte.
