The Duke of Sussex sent a stream of personal Facebook messages to a journalist, joking about drinking her under the table and “movie snuggles”.

In conversations between December 2011 and January 2012, Prince Harry referred to Charlotte Griffiths, a Mail on Sunday reporter, as “sugar” and signed off with the word “mwah” and strings of kisses.

The messages were disclosed to the High Court as part of the Duke’s privacy claim against Associated Newspapers Limited, publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday. They suggested the pair were on closer terms than the Duke had indicated.