Prosecutor: UK Hacker Reporters Targeted Princes

The battle for tabloid scoops

A prosecutor gave jurors juicy details of tabloid misbehavior at Britain's phone hacking trial on Friday, describing how reporters targeted celebrities, ministers and even Princes William and Harry.

The never-ending demand for royal stories at Rupert Murdoch's British tabloids led employees to hack voicemail messages left by the princes, target senior aides and pay thousands of pounds for a photo of Prince William in a bikini, prosecutor Andrew Edis said Friday.

Journalists at Murdoch's News of the World routinely used phone hacking to back up tips and find evidence for stories, he said — using a "perfectly rational but entirely illegal system."