A tabloid story alleging that Prince Harry got an aide to help him with examinations at Sandhurst military academy was based "entirely" on phone hacking, a British court heard today.
The jury in the phone hacking trial was told that material for the report in the now-defunct News Of The World about the Prince's time at the Royal Military Academy was derived from a voicemail.
Andrew Edis, the prosecution counsel, said the article, which appeared on December 18, 2005, was based on the contents of a message illegally accessed by private investigator Glenn Mulcaire on behalf of the tabloid's former royal editor Clive Goodman.
The then editor of the tabloid, Andy Coulson, was aware of the hacking.
Edis said the report was one of a number of stories cited by Goodman as he tried to justify paying Mulcaire a weekly retainer.
Earlier the jury heard that Goodman had admitted he was breaking the law when he asked Coulson to approve a corrupt payment to a policeman.
He emailed the tabloid's editor, asking him to approve a 1,000-pound cash payment to the officer for a royal telephone directory.
But he acknowledged that he and Coulson would face "criminal charges" if the transaction was discovered, the court heard.
