Prince Harry Says Tabloid Wiretapped Prince Louis' Godfather

Prince Harry has accused U.K. tabloid The Mail on Sunday of phone-hacking and wire-tapping a friend who went on to be Prince Louis' godfather.

Nightclub owner Guy Pelly was known as the party-animal friend of Prince Harry and Prince William at the time the Duke of Sussex says he was targeted by private investigators working for the newspaper.

More recently, Pelly was named among Prince Louis' godparents in a royal announcement in July 2018.

Prince Harry is suing Associated Newspapers, publisher of The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, for a series of privacy breaches and intrusive techniques. He traveled to London for a four-day hearing at the High Court on March 27.

In addition to Pelly, Harry named his ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy among the newspaper's targets in a court filing seen by Newsweek.

In the document, the duke's lawyers wrote: "In this period, [Prince Harry] and his Associates were regularly targeted by the private investigator, Gavin Burrows, on behalf of [journalist's name redacted] at The Mail on Sunday who carried out Unlawful Acts such as obtaining itemised phone bills, phone hacking [Prince Harry's] friends' phones, landline tapping [Prince Harry's] friends' home phones, placing a hardwire tap on [Prince Harry's] friend, Guy Pelly's phone, as well as intercepting his voicemails, and other unlawful information gathering about [Prince Harry's] girlfriend at the time, Chelsy Davy, and other blags through which he obtained information unlawfully or illegally about [Prince Harry] and his Associates."

In his book Spare, Harry described Davy's struggles with the media. He wrote that she once found a tracking device under her car. Harry has made sweeping allegations against multiple British newspapers, and there is currently nothing to suggest the incident was linked to the Mail specifically.

Harry wrote: "Chels[ey] told me that paps [paparazzi] had been following her to and from lectures—she asked me to do something about it. I told her I'd try. I told her how sorry I was.

"When she was back in Cape Town, she phoned me and said people were tailing her everywhere and it was driving her crazy. She couldn't imagine how they always knew where she was and where she'd be," Harry added.

"She was freaking out. I talked it over with Marko, who advised me to ask Chels's brother to check the underside of the car. Sure enough: tracking device.

"Marko and I were able to tell her brother exactly what to check for, and where, because it had happened to so many other people around me," the prince wrote.

"Chels said again that she just wasn't sure if she was up for this. A lifetime of
being stalked? What could I say?

"I'd miss her, so much. But I completely understood her desire for freedom.
If I had a choice, I wouldn't want this life either," Harry added.

Harry listened intently to legal argument during the first day of the court hearing. The judge is considering, among other issues, an application to have the case thrown out on grounds it has been filed too long after the incidents in question.

Elton John, Liz Hurley and Sadie Frost are among high-profile figures also suing Associated alongside the duke.

A court filing by Harry's team, seen by Newsweek, read: "As a senior member of the Royal Family at all material times, Associated's pursuit of detail as to information as to his private travel plans and publication of the same through the Unlawful Articles caused a significant security risk to [Prince Harry] which was as grossly irresponsible as it was dangerous.

"Moreover, [Prince Harry] regards Associated's Unlawful Acts to amount to a major betrayal given promises made by the media to improve its conduct following the tragic and untimely death of his mother, Princess Diana, in 1997," the statement added.

"[Prince Harry] is further concerned and upset by the fact that despite its stated values of representing the interests of British people, characterising itself as a beacon of truth and integrity, in fact it was committing these insidious and illegal Acts, and even lying and continuing to cover up the same so that they would not be publicly exposed."

Jack Royston is chief royal correspondent for Newsweek, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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