Journalist Fighting Harry in Court Reveals Who Is to Blame for the Leak: 'He Invited Me In'
The Mail on Sunday's former royal editor has directly contradicted Prince Harry's testimony in his privacy lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, saying the Duke personally welcomed her into his inner circle.
Prince Harry has battled the press after his exit from 'The Firm' and has always batted around the idea that the press took things from him that were never offered. But this week, in a London courtroom, a journalist fighting him in court offered a version of events that turns that narrative on its head—and says the Duke himself is the one who opened the door.
Katie Nicholl, the Mail on Sunday's former royal editor, took the witness stand this week in the Duke of Sussex's privacy lawsuit against Associated Newspapers, and her testimony cuts directly to the heart of Harry's case against her. Far from sneaking her way into his world, Nicholl told the court, it was Harry himself who opened the door—literally. "Prince Harry was standing in the doorway of a private room smoking a cigarette," she told the court. "He said, 'Hello, would you like to join my party?' I said, 'Yes, please, because the one I'm at is pretty dull.' So he invited me in, personally, right into his inner circle."
The encounter she describes took place in April 2003 at Kensington Roof Gardens, where the then-teenage prince was hosting a private party. Nicholl, now 48, says she was not only welcomed in by Harry that evening—she was introduced to his friends and stayed for the entirety of the night.
And this description contrasts with the one Harry presented to the same court in January, when he claimed he could only "vaguely" remember the party and was "sure I didn't invite her in." He also told the court that Nicholl was never part of his social circle and that his friends knew "exactly who she was and what her capabilities were." Nicholl, however, did not step down. When Harry's barrister David Sherborne challenged her account, suggesting she had simply "managed to gain" her way into the party rather than being personally invited, she pushed back without hesitation.
"I absolutely remember that moment," she said. "It's not all the time you get invited into a party by one of the most famous princes in the world. I remember it very clearly. He not only invited me in, but he also introduced me to his friends, and I stayed there for the whole evening."
The case is about 14 stories that form the basis of Harry's privacy claim—seven of which were written by Nicholl. The Duke and his legal team allege that the information contained in those stories could only have been obtained through unlawful means, including phone hacking. Sherborne accused Nicholl of "exaggerating" her sources and fabricating the impression that she enjoyed special access to Harry's inner circle, describing those around the Prince as "very tight-lipped."
Nicholl, rejecting that idea, said, "They were not all tight-lipped; they certainly weren't," she told the court. "I had very good sources. The reason I didn't need to sit at home to do unlawful information gathering was that I had real sources close to Prince Harry who were willing to talk to me."
"I have never intercepted a voicemail, Mr. Sherborne," she said. "That was never my modus operandi; I had real people telling me real information." The Duke, who appeared to be following the proceedings remotely—logged into the hearing under the name "DoS"—had previously suggested to the court that his only encounter with Nicholl was at a polo event. Nicholl, responding to that, with barely concealed dryness, alleged that Duke's memory "might be somewhat limited," and left it at that.
