- BBC NEWS Channel interviewed Royal pundit Katie Nicholl about Press intrusion on Prince Harry – but she did not declare her own shadowy role in his anguish
- AT THE MAIL on Sunday, phone hackers and illegal private investigators supplied her with stories
- MS NICHOLL wrote suspicious articles about Prince Harry’s phone activity for NINE years
By Graham Johnson
Editor, Byline Investigates
A LEADING Royal pundit exposed by Byline Investigates for illegal news-gathering has told the BBC that Prince Harry is no victim of ‘Press intrusion’ – despite writing about his private phone calls and texts for NINE years.
Multiple stories bylined to Katie Nicholl about Prince Harry contain classic hallmarks of ‘unlawful information gathering’.
Byline Investigates revealed the full extent of Ms Nicholl’s unlawful intrusions into the private life of the 35-year-old Prince in Part 3 of our MailBOMB series.
But, this week, Ms Nicholl glossed over her own significant role when appearing on BBC News Channel, when speaking of the strained relationship between the media and Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Ms Nicholl, who is currently the Royal Editor at Vanity Fair magazine, admitted the desire to “escape” the British press had played a “huge” role in couple’s decision to change their lives.
Meghan Markle, she said, was the “victim of negative press”, while “Harry’s relationship with the media was complex”.
However, the author of unauthorised book ‘Harry and Meghan’ failed to mention her own hounding of Prince Harry – or the highly-suspicious articles laden with references to his private phone calls and data written during her 14-year tenure at the Mail on Sunday.
Nor did Ms Nicholl reveal to BBC News TV presenter Simon McCoy her links to at least three phone hackers – two whom were jailed for hacking Prince Harry – and to another illegal blagger, when she worked therefor billionaire-owned Associated Newspapers, which publishes the Mail titles.
Freelance journalist Greg Miskiw, who received a six-month sentence for phone hacking, told Byline Investigates in MailBOMB Part 1 how he supplied Katie Nicholl with illegally-obtained stories.
His private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who was similarly imprisoned for hacking Prince Harry’s aides in 2005 and 2006 along with another handler, former News of the World Royal Editor Clive Goodman – has also told us that his illegal product ended-up in her stories.
Phone billing specialist Steve Whittamore, whom Katie Nicholl tasked at least 20 times, was later convicted of data protection offences.
And a third serial phone hacker known to Byline Investigates has also told this website he supplied Katie Nicholl with stories.
Despite our repeated revelations, the BBC invited Ms Nicholl to its central London HQ on Monday afternoon to offer her opinions, ahead of a so-called ‘Royal summit’ at Sandringham to discuss Prince Harry’s future role in the monarchy.
At 14.07, the corporation introduced Ms Nicholl as Royal Editor at Vanity Fair and author, before allowing her a powerful platform from which to speak on the Royal couple.
She began by commenting on the press statement Prince Harry and Prince William issued, condemning a “false” story in The Times about his relationship with Prince William.
Then, at 14.10, Mr McCoy asked: “There are those of us, who were around in the Diana years, and there is mood that is strikingly familiar, and a rather dangerous one at that.”
Katie Nicholl replied: “That they are being hounded out? Absolutely there is. There are always two sides to every story. And clearly she [Meghan Markle] does feel that she is the victim of a negative press, certainly over here in Britain.”
She added: “Harry’s always had a very complex relationship with the press. Is there a huge part of this, about wanting to just escape, that? Yes. I absolutely think it is. But I think they are slightly misguided, if they think that going to Canada is going to be a place where there are no cameras, no paparazzi.”
She went on: “And, in fact, when you think about the level of intrusion they’ve had, the British media have largely left them as a family alone, to raise Archie away from the spotlight in Windsor. I mean, there haven’t been any paparazzi pictures of them. I think that might change in Canada.”
A spokesperson for the Mail on Sunday and Katie Nicholl said: “As we have told you before, these allegations rely on the word of two convicted phone-hackers and appear to be supported by no credible evidence whatsoever.
“They are categorically denied. Neither Katie Nicholl nor the Mail on Sunday ever knowingly used information that was illegally obtained by either Greg Miskiw or Glenn Mulcaire.
The BBC declined to comment.
