Prince Harry messaged a journalist who called him “Mr Mischief”, a trial has revealed. A series of alleged exchanges with Charlotte Griffiths emerged during the Duke of Sussex’s privacy trial on Tuesday (March 31).
The Facebook messages allegedly show the Mail on Sunday reporter calling Harry “Mr Mischief” and “H Bomb”. She also refers to a “fun weekend of naughtiness”. Harry’s messages allegedly include the words “sugar”, “Griff” and “Miss our movie snuggles”, The Times reports. Claims about the messages follow Harry telling the court in January that he was not friends with any of the journalists linked to the case.
Griffiths joined the Mail on Sunday in 2008, was diary editor from 2013 to 2020 and is now editor-at-large.
She said she joined Harry at a weekend country house party in 2011, hosted by Arthur Landon, a film producer and one of the prince’s oldest friends.
The messages also refer to “Skippy”, the nickname of Tom Inskip, who was one of Harry’s closest friends.
She said in June 2012, she was invited to join an all-night party with Harry before he attended a military parade. Griffiths was questioned about a telephone call to the prince at 2.50am and three text message exchanges, The Times reports.
Harry claimed that a series of articles published in the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday could only have been obtained through unlawful information-gathering methods, including phone hacking and bugging.
Harry, 41, and Sir Elton John, 78, along with five other high-profile individuals, are bringing claims against Associated Newspapers over alleged unlawful practices, including phone hacking, bugging and “blagging” calls. The publisher and its journalists deny any wrongdoing.