Prince Harry's Private Messages Laid Bare in Court — And It's Not a Good Look for Him
Messages exchanged between the Duke and a journalist cast fresh doubt on his claim that the two had barely met.
Prince Harry is suing Associated Newspapers Limited, publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday, in what has become one of the most closely watched media trials in recent British history. For the unversed, it is a case about alleged unlawful information gathering. But over the course of eleven weeks at the High Court, the proceedings have steadily peeled back layers of Harry's private life — and this week, those layers included a string of Facebook exchanges with a journalist he once claimed to barely know.
The messages in question were sent between December 2011 and January 2012 between the Duke and Charlotte Griffiths, then the Mail on Sunday's deputy diary editor and now its editor-at-large. In them, Harry referred to Griffiths as 'sugar,' signed off with the word 'mwah,' and scattered strings of kisses across his sign-offs. In one message, he lamented missing a gathering, writing, "I WISH I was there, sugar, but unfortunately stuck in Cornwall doing Army stuff :( Otherwise I would have been there playing and then drinking you under the table, obvi!!" He then added, with a warmth that sits somewhat awkwardly against his courtroom testimony: "Just wish I could have been there … especially now that you're there! Do you ever work?!!.... Hope you're really well, Griff … Miss our movie snuggles!! I'm off comms all week in case you think I'm being rude, keep me posted xxx xxx xxx."
These messages have now turned the case on its head. As is evident, these messages don’t look like they were exchanged between strangers, and when combined with the Duke’s January testimony, it only goes on to paint Harry in a bad light. Harry had testified that he had met Griffiths precisely once — at a party hosted by their mutual friend Arthur Landon — and that upon discovering she was a journalist, he severed all forms of contact. "I had words with my friend," he said, "and that was that."
The exchange under cross-examination, conducted by Antony White KC for Associated Newspapers, made for uncomfortable viewing. When pressed on whether Griffiths had moved in his social circles, Harry was categorical: "Not as far as I'm aware." When asked whether he had used the nickname 'Mr Mischief' in messages to her, he was equally firm: "No, I've never used the name 'Mr Mischief', Mr White."
The Duke opened the correspondence himself, on December 4, 2011, writing to Griffiths, "It's H, in case you were confused by name and picture!!! X." Griffiths replied cheerfully, with: "Hello, Mr Mischief… Did you get home OK/ did you actually find your car, and did you beat Arthur down the motorway, more importantly?!" — before signing off: "What a fun weekend of naughtiness – can't we all get up to no good in the countryside every weekend, damn it?? Smooches, CG String. Xxx."
Harry's response was entirely in keeping with the spirit she'd set. He called it "without doubt the best of those weekends I've been to," and described himself as suffering "serious withdrawal symptoms still," having been forced the next evening to "make polite conversation with strange people at a dinner last night, begging them for money for charity! Really fun. Not."
