Prince Harry’s first girlfriend warned he could “turn out just like” his uncle, the former Duke of York, the High Court has heard during the duke’s privacy trial against a newspaper publisher.
The claim emerged in evidence given by journalist Barbara Jones, who told the court she visited Harry’s then girlfriend Chelsy Davy in Cape Town in 2004 while working as the Africa correspondent for The Mail on Sunday. Jones said Davy confirmed she was in a relationship with Prince Harry during that meeting.
The court heard that Jones returned three months later with a source, Joe Osman, who claimed he knew Davy’s brother because he sold him cannabis. Jones said she waited in her car outside the property in the Newlands suburb of Cape Town while Osman spent around 20 minutes inside, The Times reported.
Afterwards, she recorded his account of what he said was a conversation with Davy.
According to Jones, Osman claimed Davy had said she advised Harry that pursuing a career as an army officer was “pointless” and warned he would “turn out just like Prince Andrew”.
The source also alleged that Davy told him she encouraged Harry to hire a Nazi uniform when he phoned her from a costume rental shop, the court heard.
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The allegation relates to the well-known 2005 controversy in which Harry attended a fancy dress party wearing a Nazi uniform with a swastika armband. At the time, Clarence House issued a statement saying the prince had apologised “for any offence” caused by the incident.
Jones told the court that Davy was also reported to have described Harry as “behaving like a wuss” for allowing himself to be confined to Highgrove House following the backlash.
The evidence forms part of Harry’s ongoing legal action against Associated Newspapers, which he accuses of unlawful information gathering.
The Duke is one of several high-profile figures bringing claims in the case, including Elton John. The claimants allege journalists used illegal methods such as voicemail interception to obtain private information.
Associated Newspapers and its journalists deny the allegations and say no unlawful activity took place.
Harry has also told the court that neither he nor Davy had friends who would speak to the press about their relationship at the time.
The trial is continuing at the High Court in London.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
