EXCLUSIVE: Prince Harry's Fresh 'Drugs' Shame — Journalist Accuses Him of Using 'Fake Pill Prank' to 'Prove Her Trustworthiness'
Charlotte Griffiths claimed Prince Harry had a strange way of testing her trust.
July 12 2026, Published 6:00 p.m. ET
Prince Harry has been accused of staging a "fake pill prank" to test a journalist's trust, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Charlotte Griffiths, 40, a reporter at the Daily Mail, said the alleged incident took place during a shooting weekend at a 4,000-acre estate in Hampshire when Harry, now 41, was still third in line to the British throne.
'Now I Know I Can Trust You'
Journalist Charlotte Griffiths accused Prince Harry of staging a fake pill prank.
Her account emerges amid renewed scrutiny of Harry following the dismissal of his legal case against Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday.
Harry, alongside figures including Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley, Sadie Frost, Baroness Doreen Lawrence, and Sir Simon Hughes, had alleged unlawful information gathering.
Griffiths claimed, "From his pocket, he removed a small white pill."
She added: "Then he held it up to my face, popped it onto my tongue, and said with a smile, 'Now I know I can trust you!'... take that white pill he'd so brazenly stuck in my mouth."
"It was almost certainly paracetamol, rather than something more sinister. But I couldn't be entirely sure," Griffiths recalled.
Griffiths said the moment came early in what she described as a budding friendship with Harry, and suggested the gesture was intended as a prank to "kick start" their relationship.
The anecdote has gained traction as Harry faces ongoing criticism following his failed legal action.
High Court Crushes Princess Harry's Newspaper Lawsuit
Britain's High Court recently dismissed Princess Harry's claims against a publisher.
Britain's High Court dismissed his claims in full, dealing a significant blow to the group of high-profile claimants who had accused Associated Newspapers of practices including voicemail interception, landline tapping and "blagging" to obtain private information.
Associated Newspapers denied the allegations throughout the proceedings.
In a 436-page ruling, Mr Justice Nicklin said: "For the reasons given in this judgment, each of the claimants' claims is dismissed."
The judgment marked a decisive victory for the publisher after a lengthy and closely watched legal battle.
In a statement following the ruling, Associated Newspapers said: "Mr Justice Nicklin today cleared the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, and dismissed every single one of the 97 allegations made by the claimants."
The publisher added the decision represented an "overwhelming victory" and "a magnificent vindication of the Daily Mail's journalism."
The company continued: "In every case, the judge accepted the honesty of our journalists' evidence on how they sourced their stories."
It added: "The reputations of our decent and hard-working journalists were terribly impugned, and today they have been exonerated."
Princess Harry Slams 'Whitewash' Verdict After Defeat
Prince Harry described the court ruling as a complete whitewash.
Harry and Baroness Lawrence responded critically to the outcome, describing the ruling as a "complete and obvious whitewash."
Their statement underscored ongoing tensions between the claimants and sections of the British press, with Harry in particular having made media accountability a central theme of his public life since stepping back from royal duties in 2020 with his wife, Meghan Markle
Harry admitted in his 2023 memoir Spare to past recreational use of cocaine, cannabis, and psychedelic mushrooms.
Inside the Desperate Battle Over US Visa Records
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A federal judge previously ruled that Prince Harry's immigration records should remain private.
The admissions sparked an ongoing legal battle regarding his United States visa.
In his book, Harry detailed using cocaine as a teenager to "feel different," smoking cannabis at Eton, and taking psychedelic mushrooms.
He stated he resorted to drugs and heavy drinking to cope with the trauma and grief of his mother's death.
His confession prompted the conservative think tank, the Heritage Foundation, to sue the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the Freedom of Information Act.
They argued Harry's admissions meant he should have declared his drug use, claiming either he lied on his immigration forms – which can result in deportation – or received preferential treatment.
In September 2024, a federal judge ruled Harry's immigration records should remain private.
While a judge ordered the unsealing of some supporting court documents in March 2025, they were heavily redacted, and the contents of his actual visa application remain withheld to protect his privacy.
