Prince Harry: Ex-Pal Says He Offered Her an Unknown Pill
Journalist Charlotte Griffiths said Prince Harry put a small white pill on her tongue during a party and framed it as a test of trust. She said she discreetly folded it into a napkin because she did not know what it was, and later described the gesture as a passing joke.
Journalist Charlotte Griffiths said Prince Harry placed a small white pill on her tongue during a party in December 2011, presenting it as a test of trust. Griffiths said she folded it into a napkin because she did not know what it was.
The encounter resurfaced in a discussion on the Daily Expresso podcast, where Griffiths described the gesture as a joke. She said she was willing to have fun but did not take the pill.
“Pop that in your mouth and then I know I can trust you,” Griffiths recalled Harry telling her. She said she discreetly removed the pill and tucked it into her napkin.
Griffiths, an editor at the Mail on Sunday, said she was wary of taking an unknown substance in front of a member of the royal family. “I don't fancy my chances being off my head in front of a royal,” she said.
Podcast host JJ Anisiobi asked whether Harry had made a similar gesture with other women. Griffiths said she believed it was “a passing joke.”
She had previously recounted the incident from a country-house shooting weekend in Hampshire. At dinner, she said, she was seated beside Harry when he took a small white pill from his pocket and put it on her tongue.
Griffiths said she thought the pill was “almost certainly paracetamol,” but could not be entirely sure. She described the moment as a prank intended to “kick-start” their relationship.
The account has drawn attention amid Harry's legal battle against Associated Newspapers Limited. Text messages and other communications between Harry and Griffiths became part of the dispute.
The messages contradicted Harry's earlier claims that he had minimal contact with Griffiths or had met her only once. Harry had messaged her on Facebook using an account under the name “Spike Wells.”
In the messages, he called her “Sugar” and “Griff,” complained about being “stuck in Cornwall doing army stuff,” and said he missed their “movie snuggles.” Griffiths addressed him as “Mr. Mischief.”
Court records and phone logs also highlighted a 2.50am call and subsequent texts in June 2012. Griffiths was trying to get into a flat belonging to Harry's friend Arthur Landon, where Harry was already spending time.
Harry's legal team argued that Griffiths had not disclosed that she was a journalist and characterized the interaction as a brief, meaningless social encounter. Griffiths later said she ghosted him because she was a young reporter trying to build a serious career.
