Messages exchanged between December 2011 and January 2012 surfaced in Harry’s privacy case, where he said he did not know Charlotte Griffiths was a journalist

Prince Harry at the High Court in London in Jan. 2026.Credit : Peter Nicholls/Getty

Prince Harry exchanged a series of Facebook messages with a journalist over several weeks before realizing she was a reporter, London’s High Court has heard.

Documents quoted by The Times and The Daily Telegraph appeared to show Harry, 41, and Charlotte Griffiths, 40, exchanging a handful of personal messages between December 2011 and January 2012, including one in which he allegedly joked about drinking her “under the table” and another that ended with “mwah.”

Griffiths — who joined the Mail on Sunday in 2008, served as its diary editor from 2013 to 2020 and is now editor-at-large — in turn referred to time they spent at a house party as a “fun weekend of naughtiness.”

Harry told the court that once he realized Griffiths worked for the Mail, he confronted a friend (he admits to meeting her at a weekend party with Arthur Landon) — who had hosted one of the parties where they crossed paths — and cut off contact with her.

PEOPLE has reached out to a spokesperson for the Duke of Sussex for comment.

The messages surfaced in the closing stages of Harry’s privacy case against Associated Newspapers, the publisher of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday. Harry and several other high-profile claimants, including Elton John and Elizabeth Hurley, allege the publisher used unlawful methods to gather information. Associated Newspapers denies wrongdoing. Testimony in the case concluded on March 31.

Prince Harry at the High Court at an earlier court heard in April 2025.Carl Court/Getty

In her evidence, Griffiths said she and Harry were both at a weekend country house party hosted by one of the prince’s friends, Arthur Landon.

When he gave evidence at the start of the civil case in January, Harry said none of his close circle spoke to the newspapers and that he was “not friends with any of these journalists.” He added that once he discovered Griffiths worked for the Mail, he confronted his friend and cut off contact with her.

Prince Harry during one of is other court hearings in London in March 2023.Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Over the 11-week case, the claimants’ lawyer David Sherborne argued that a raft of stories about Harry and others could only have come from unlawful information gathering.

A final ruling from Mr. Justice Nicklin is expected at a later date.

During his testimony, Harry was also asked whether he had ever used the name “Mr. Mischief” — after reports that he operated a secret Facebook account under the pseudonym. He denied this, saying he “never used the name Mr. Mischief.”

Messages published by The Times and The Daily Telegraph on April 1 indicate that it was Griffiths who seemed to refer to him by that nickname in her Facebook messages, rather than Harry using it himself.

“Hello Mr Mischief . . . What a fun weekend of naughtiness — can’t we all get up to no good in the countryside every weekend damn it?? Smooches, CG String,” one December 2011 message from Griffiths read, according to The Telegraph and The Times. She was responding to a note allegedly from Harry that said, “It’s H, incase u were confused by name and picture!!! X.”

Antony White KC, representing Associated Newspapers, told the court on Tuesday that he was responsible for mistakenly claiming that “Mr Mischief” was the name Harry used for himself, rather than the name Griffiths adopted for the prince.

Elizabeth Hurley and her son Damian arrive at the court in January 2026.Dan Kitwood/Getty

In a message dated Jan. 22, 2012, Griffiths seemingly wrote to him that they had missed him at a mutual friend’s home the previous week and said she was in Klosters watching a snow polo match in support of his Sentebale charity. He allegedly replied, “I wish I was there sugar but unfortunately stuck in Cornwall doing Army stuff,” and added that he was glad they had raised a lot of money for the charity and joking about drinking her under the table. He then appeared to sign off, “Hope you’re really well Griff . . . Miss our movie snuggles!!”

During his earlier testimony in the case, it was also suggested that Harry and Griffiths had met at a house party on the Spanish island of Ibiza. Harry disputed that account, saying, “The only time I have been to Ibiza is with my wife and son.” (He and Meghan Markle visited Ibiza in 2019 with their son, Prince Archie, now 6.)

In her witness statement, given later in March, Griffiths said she had met “Prince Harry’s friends, including Arthur Landon, at one of those Ibiza house parties and spent some time over the summer in Ibiza with them in 2011 or 2012.”

When giving evidence in court, Griffiths said she built her society contacts while attending school in west London and later at the University of Leeds, where she studied at the “same time as Chelsy Davy and continuing to socialize in similar high society circles ever since.” Davy dated Prince Harry in the 2000s, and Griffiths said she met Harry through mutual friends.

In her witness statement released March 10, Griffiths also said she chose not to report on Kate Middleton’s pregnancy with Prince George after learning the news at a private social gathering.