Kate Middleton's Phone 'Hacked 180 Times' in News of the World Scandal
The former News of the World reporter involved in the phone hacking scandal admitted to hacking the phones of Prince William and Kate Middleton a combined 180 times.
Clive Goodman is facing fresh charges after admitting in court to hacking the Duchess of Cambridge's phone on a total of 155 occasions beginning in 2005- when he tapped into her conversations on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, according to Yahoo News. Furthermore, the 56-year-old former reporter tapped into Prince William's phone 35 times, and Prince Harry's on nine occasions.
The phone-hacking trial is centered in several former News of the World reporters, including editor Rebekah Brooks, Andy Coulson, Goodman and four others accused of a number of crimes, including conspiracy to illegally intercept voicemails. However, Goodman has not appeared in court since he was deemed unfit to stand in March following a minor heart operation.
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Back in December, jury members of the trial heard messages that belonged to the royals which were hacked by Rupert Murdoch's now-defunct newspaper. It was the first time the London court heard that the royal family was among the victims of the phone-hacking.
At the time of one message, Middleton was dating Prince William who was an officer in training at Sandhurst. According to the hacked voicemail, the prince "nearly got shot" with blank rounds during a training exercise at Aldershot, the BBC reported. In another message to his girlfriend, William said he was going "beagling," which is hunting rabbits with dogs, and he later used the pet name "babykins" for Middleton.
"Hi baby, it's me," William began in another message, according to Us Magazine.
In many of the messages, the royal would conclude his messages to Middleton by saying, "Lots of love, I'll speak to you soon." Middleton and Prince William are now known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge following their April 2011 wedding in London.
Meanwhile, all seven of the accused in the NoW phone-hacking case deny all charges as the trial continues. Other high-profile victims who experiences their phones being hacked include Hugh Grant, Sarah Ferguson, and James Blunt, among many others- 144 people in total.
