A News of the World journalist told a U.K. court that he hacked into Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge’s phone 155 times to gain access to her messages before her marriage to Prince William.
Clive Goodman, the paper’s former royal editor, was jailed for phone hacking back in January 2007. However, he was back in court on Wednesday as one of seven defendants, including other former News of the World editors Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks, reports the BBC. It was his first time in court after suffering from an illness that prevented him from testifying. All seven have denied wrongdoing.
This was the first time that Goodman admitted to personally hacking the phone of royalty or someone linked to the royal family in court, notes the Telegraph.
He said that he hacked the phone of the Duchess - then just Kate Middleton - between December 2006 and August 2006, five years before she officially joined the Royal Family by marrying Prince William. Goodman said that he accessed her voicemail messages 155 times. These occasions included Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
The last time was on Aug. 7, 2006, just a day before he was first jailed for phone hacking.
During his first trial, Goodman only admitted to hacking royal aides’ phones. He said he had “forgotten” at the time that he had targeted Prince William and the Duchess. As for why he would hack the Duchess’ phone before she became a royal, he explained, “She was a figure of increasing importance around the Royal Family.”
Goodman told Coulson’s lawyer, Timothy Langdale QC, “There were discussions about her and Prince William marrying, moving in, settling down. She started to receive semi-royal status and things were moving on.”
The trial is still ongoing.