Dec. 19 (UPI) -- The British royal family, who first suffered the indignity of having their private voicemails hacked, must now deal with the fact that they've been read aloud to a jury.
In the case against tabloid News of the World -- the British tabloid accused of recording voicemails between Prince William, Prince Harry and Kate Middleton -- a U.K. court heard two messages Prince William sent to his future wife, dating back to 2006, and a transcribed message from William to Harry.
In one message, Prince William refers to Kate as "babykins." In another, he describes a training exercise at Sandhurst military academy in which he "nearly got shot."
"I've been running around the woods of Aldershot chasing shadows and getting terribly lost, and I walked into some other regiment's ambush, which was slightly embarrassing because I nearly got shot. Not by live rounds but by blank rounds, which would be very embarrassing though," he says on the voicemail.
"I might send a cheeky text message cos I might have my phone with me," he says of the next day's plans.
In a message to his brother, William can supposedly be heard impersonating Harry's ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy saying, "You are the best looking ginger I have ever seen."
"It's lovely out here in Africa and hopefully I'll see you very soon you big hairy fat ginger," the message continued.
Police found the recordings in 2006, when they searched the home of the tabloid's royal editor, Clive Goodman, and private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire. Prosecutors connected the voicemails to subsequent News of the World stories.
Former News of the World editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson are also on trial with Goodman and Mulcaire. They all deny the charges.
[Guardian, BBC News]
