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The countdown is on until Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, touch down in Australia. And yet a mere fortnight before Meghan makes an appearance at Coogee’s InterContinental Hotel at the much-publicised Her Best Life retreat, the couple are weathering some awkward revelations about Harry’s past.
Over in the UK, Harry is one of seven high-profile claimants who is suing Associated Newspapers – the publisher of the Daily Mail – for alleged widespread unlawful activities to obtain stories, including alleged voicemail hacking.
However Associated Newspapers strongly denies the allegations and argues that he and the other claimants had “leaky” social circles.
And that’s where we get on to the subject of Harry’s, somewhat awkward, Facebook messages to a blonde journalist after a weekend of partying in 2011.
According to court documents, Harry nicknamed Daily Mail reporter Charlotte Griffiths “sugar”, while she messaged him calling him “Mr Mischief” and alluding to a “weekend of naughtiness” with the duke.
Harry reportedly initiated contact with the reporter in December 2011 before describing the gathering as “without doubt the best of those weekends I’ve been to”.
“What a crowd. Never laughed so much in 24hrs!!! Mr Mischief? How did I get that title … I was surely no worse than anyone else,” he wrote.
In a later message Charlotte sent about a ski holiday in January 2012, Harry responded: “I wish I was there sugar but unfortunately stuck in Cornwall doing Army stuff. Otherwise I would have been there playing and then drinking u under the table, obvi!!.”
The Prince also told her he missed their “movie snuggles”, but the messages stopped soon after.
Harry previously claimed he only met Charlotte once and that he cut off communication after he realised she was a reporter.
While the messages were sent well before Harry met his future wife Meghan Markle, insiders are saying the revelations have not gone down well back home.
“This is just another confirmation that Harry’s not the brightest candle on the cake, but for Meghan the timing is a nightmare,” a source tells Woman’s Day.
“They’re about to embark on their ‘resurrection’ tour down under in a last-ditch attempt at saving what’s left of their ‘brand’ and these tales of Harry’s idiotic playboy days are embarrassing.”
The insider alleges the revelations have caused something of a “rupture” between the pair because Harry “considers himself a completely different person now he’s a husband and father”.
“So he’s annoyed she’s annoyed,” the source adds, “but Meghan’s thinking of the kids too, not just their bottom line.”
With the couple’s son Archie now at school and Lilibet in kindergarten at the end of August, Meghan is understood to be worried about chatter at the school gates.
“She thought they’d aired their dirty laundry before they got married, so it’s upsetting to hear about him almost being ‘honey-trapped’ by a journalist from the paper he’s ironically trying to sue,” the source goes on.
“But even worse are the flirty contents of his texts. ‘Movie snuggles’? He comes across as nothing but cringe and now he’s going to be the talk of the school gate mums. Again.”
