Former News of the World editor Clive Goodman said Wednesday that he hacked and listened to Prince Harry’s voicemail nine times, Prince William’s 35 times and Kate Middleton’s for a shocking 155 times.
Goodman, 56, is now under cross-examination at the phone hacking trial of Britain for allegedly eavesdropping illegally in 2006. The former editor along with Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator, were jailed in 2007 for a short period of time for hacking phones that belongs to the royal aides.
However, Goodman claimed that the authorities never asked him if he hacked the phones that belong to the royal family as well. He said he has been as honest and open as possible on matters about hacking, but nobody has asked him questions about hacking the royal family before.
According to Goodman, they set their eyes on Kate Middleton back in 2005 when she was slowly becoming an important personality around the royal family. Kate Middleton became the Duchess of Cambridge when she married Prince William in 2011.
Prince William and Middleton had discussions in their phone messages about marrying, settling down, and moving in said Goodman.
Not only Goodman is included in this phone hacking trial. Other former News of the World editors Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks are also under trial for violations they committed in the tabloids. News of the World, which is under Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd, was shut down in 2011 after proof of hacking emerged. The news outlet reportedly hacked phones that belong to politicians, celebrities, and a kidnapped victim who was still 13 years old at the time.
Goodman said Coulson and Mulcaire knew about the phone hackings they have done, but the former editors deny all the allegations and charges.
After two months of break because ill health, Goodman will return on Wednesday to the witness box. He is charged with conspiracy on paying officials to get the numbers of the royal family, not for hacking phones.
