LONDON -- Jurors at Britain's phone-hacking trial have been read intercepted messages left by Prince William on Kate Middleton's phone, in which he calls her "babykins" and jokes about almost being shot during a military training exercise.
The recording dates back to the days before they were married and reveals the extent of media intrusion into the lives of William, second-in-line for the throne, and Middleton, who at the time was a private citizen dating a senior royal.
The recorded messages from 2006 were found among the belongings of private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who has been convicted of hacking the phones of aides to William and his younger brother, Prince Harry.
Three messages read out Thursday were left while William was attending Sandhurst military academy. He and Kate married in 2011.
One message from William begins with the words: "Hi baby. Um, sorry, I've just got back in off my night navigation exercise."
He continues: "I had a busy day today again. I've been running around the woods of Aldershot chasing shadows and getting horribly lost, and I walked into some other regiment's ambush, which was slightly embarrassing because I nearly got shot. Not by live rounds but by blank rounds, which would have been very embarrassing, though."
Seven people, including former News of the World editors Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks, are on trial on charges related to wrongdoing at the defunct Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper.
Prosecutors said earlier in the trial that Middleton's name was on Mulcaire's list of phone hacking targets.
