Prince William ‘confronted Murdoch execs over hacking'

Prince William expressed disappointment to two of Rupert Murdoch’s top executives that no one from the media tycoon’s empire apologised for hacking his aides’ phones, a report said yesterday. During a lunch meeting in January, the British prince admonished Rupert Murdoch’s son James and Rebekah Brooks, who were at the time both executives in Murdoch’s British newspaper wing News International, The Times newspaper said. William, second in line to the throne, reportedly said he was disappointed that no one from the publisher of the now defunct News of the World tabloid contacted him to apologise after his aides’ voice messages were intercepted. During the meal at a five-star hotel in north Wales, the prince is reported to have said that “it would have been nice if someone at the time had apologized”. Brooks, who resigned as News International chief executive this month amid the hacking scandal, and James Murdoch, chairman of News International, both said sorry during the meal, the report said. A source quoted in the paper added James Murdoch was shocked no apology had already been offered. The meal, which was organised by royal officials to build relations with the press, was “largely friendly”, The Times said. The original police investigation into phone hacking in 2006 centred on illegal interception of voicemail messages of royal officials. The News of the World’s royal editor and a private investigator were jailed in 2007 for hacking into the phones of members of the royal household. The paper maintained for several years that the hacking was the work of a “rogue reporter” but it has emerged since that the practice was more widespread. London police probing phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch’s defunct News of the World tabloid are broadening their investigation to allegations of computer hacking, they said yesterday. A new investigative team will be set up to tackle the new allegations, reporting to Sue Akers, the officer in charge of the phone hacking probe, the Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement. “Operation Tuleta is currently considering a number of allegations regarding breach of privacy, received by the MPS since January 2011, which fall outside the remit of (phone-hacking) Operation Weeting, including computer hacking,” the statement by the London police force said. “Some aspects of this operation will move forward to a formal investigation.” London police reopened their investigation into phone hacking in January, shortly after the prime minister’s communications chief, Andy Coulson, resigned because of allegations of phone hacking at the News of the World while he was the paper’s editor. The paper’s royal reporter Clive Goodman and private detective Glenn Mulcaire were jailed in 2007 for intercepting the voicemail messages of royal aides. On Friday Mulcaire issued a statement through his lawyer saying he was not acting on his own initiative when he intercepted phone messages while in the pay of the newspaper. Allegations of hacking at News Corp’s British newspapers, in particular reports that journalists accessed the voicemails of murder victims, have triggered a judicial inquiry and calls by some politicians to cap News Corp’s media ownership. The scandal has led to News Corp dropping its $12bn bid for the 61% of pay-TV broadcaster BSkyB it does not own. Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post has ordered newsroom staff to keep all documents related to questionable reporting methods involving phone hacking or unlawful payments to government officials in light of the fire storm in the UK engulfing the newspaper’s owner, News Corp The company’s legal department said in a memo on Friday: “As you have undoubtedly seen, there have been press accounts of inquiries into whether employees or agents of News Corp or its subsidiaries have (a) accessed telephone and/or other personal data of third-parties without authorisation, and/or (b) made unlawful payments to government officials in order to obtain information. “As you also know, these stem from the actions at The News of the World in London, as well as unsourced, unsubstantiated reports in one London tabloid. “Starting today, all employees must preserve and maintain all documents and information that are related in any way to the above mentioned issues. “Please know we are sending this notice not because any recipient has done anything improper or unlawful. However, given what has taken place in London, we believe that taking this step will help to underscore how seriously we are taking this matter.”