Prince Harry admits encounter with stripper at London lap dance club in revealing court testimony
PRIVACY-loving Prince Harry yesterday volunteered details on his love life, including a trip to a strip club.
On his second day of evidence in the High Court, Harry, 38, also provided details of a “surprise” liaison in Argentina with former flame Chelsy Davy.
And he denied reports his ex thought he “loved the Army more than her”.
Harry, who has often raged about his private life being publicly reported, also discussed claims in newspapers that he was caught “cavorting” with a blonde at a rugby game, saying she was only a friend.
He even revealed all about a model who sat on his lap during a trip to the Spearmint Rhino lap-dancing club with Army pals in April 2006.
Referring to a newspaper article, Harry told the judge Mr Justice Fancourt it was “factually incorrect” that his naked Lithuanian lap-dancer looked like Ms Davy.
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Harry also admitted towards the end of his day-and-a-half in court that there was no evidence he had been phone-hacked, but it would be an “injustice” if he did not win the case.
He said “I don’t know” 18 times during three hours of evidence yesterday.
In a 55-page witness statement in his case against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), Harry complained he had been unfairly portrayed as the Playboy Prince.
But he spoke about a string of women including his 2009 relationship with TV’s Caroline Flack.
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He recalled a poker night they held in April 2009, claiming details of which were illegally obtained.
He told the court: “This evening was strictly between myself, Caroline, who is no longer with us, and my friend Mark Dyer.
“The three of us left voicemails for each other, as to how that poker night was going to happen.”
The Duke also spoke about a story headlined “Hooray Harry’s Dumped” claiming he binged on vodka at Mayfair nightclub Amika after a break-up with Ms Davy.
Harry said: “It was hurtful that such a private moment was turned into a laugh.”
He said it was “incredibly disturbing” that payment for stories on him were allegedly referred to as Project Harry.
He said: “The level of surveillance I was under was quite something.”
When MGN lawyer Andrew Green suggested “Hooray Harry” was not a celebration at the demise of his relationship but a reference to his hooray lifestyle, Harry said he had never heard the term, commonly used to describe a toff.
The Duke also spoke of his heartache with Ms Davy from whom he split in 2011 after a seven-year on-off relationship.
He said an article which claimed Ms Davy feared Harry loved the Army more than her, “was not true.”
And revealing a stay-over, he said: “She’d spent the night with me; I was dropping her off as close as I could to Kensington High Street without being spotted by members of the public. So to know that the photographer was there poised waiting is highly suspicious.”
Speaking about a “surprise” liaison with Ms Davy on his gap year in Argentina, he added: “All I can remember is within 24 hours of getting to the remote polo farm I was surprised Chelsy was there.
“My friend Mark Dyer had organised it. The farm itself, the ranch, within 24 hours was besieged by approximately 15 to 20 paparazzi and obviously Marko and Chelsy had planned the trip secretly together using their mobile phones.”
Harry spoke about his friendship with blonde Astrid Harbord who was named in a story about a trip to the rugby, which he claims was obtained illegally.
He said: “We were never in a relationship. So the cavorting at Twickenham, I’m not sure what that was referencing.”
He said they were seen in public, adding: “But I wasn’t cavorting.”
The Duke clashed several times with the barrister.
At one stage, Mr Green told him: “This isn’t about you asking me questions, this is about me asking you questions.”
When Mr Green pointed out Harry and Ms Davy’s “trial separation” was already widely reported in the Sunday papers, moody Harry retorted: “I’ll take your word for it.”
When Harry said he believed his or Chelsy’s voicemails were hacked, Mr Green said: “We are in the land of total speculation.”
Harry also claimed a tracking device was fitted to Chelsy’s car.
Asked how he knew, Harry replied: “We found it.” He claimed it was put there by Mike Behr, a private investigator.
Harry was later asked if he would be either “disappointed” or “relieved” if the court ruled his phone was not hacked.
He replied: “To have a decision against me . . . yes I would feel some injustice if it wasn’t accepted.”
He was asked: “So you want to have been phone-hacked?”
Harry replied: “No one wants to have been phone hacked.”
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After he was dismissed by Justice Fancourt, Harry puffed his cheeks and chose to sit at the back of Courtroom 15 to hear the grilling of ex-journalist Jane Kerr.
He had earlier repeatedly begged the court to quiz journalists on how they had obtained information that led to stories about his private life.
‘I don't know’ 18 times in 3 hours
By Joe Morgan
PRINCE Harry said “I don’t know” 18 times during three hours in the witness box yesterday.
Here are four more of the Duke’s claims which struggled to stand up to scrutiny . . .
HARRY said a 2006 story about his lap dance from a stripper came from “unlawful information gathering”, despite it coming from a freelancer — and the court heard the report did not add “anything of substance” to what had already appeared in other articles;
STORY about a knee injury in 2005 must have been from hacking, Harry said, but Clarence House put out details of the injury a year earlier;
THE Mail On Sunday was first to publish girlfriend Chelsy’s full name, but Harry claimed the Mirror used details which must have been from phone hacking.
When asked why he hadn’t sued other newspapers over the story, he said: “I have no reason. I’m busy with other litigation”;
DUKE called a paparazzi photo of him dropping Chelsy off after a night at Kensington Palace “suspicious”, but The Mirror said snappers were often outside the palace.