Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson sent an email telling his news editor to “do” the phone of Calum Best, son of late George Best, the Old Bailey hears.
Prosecutor Andrew Edis QC told a jury the instruction referred to Calum Best, son of late soccer star George Best, who was the subject of intense interest by the now-defunct Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid.
Mr Coulson, who after leaving the News of the World went on to be Prime Minister David Cameron’s media chief, and Rebekah Brooks, who rose to become chief executive of News International, also face two charges each of making illegal payments to public officials.
In total, eight defendants are in the dock on various charges related to phone-hacking, illegal payments for stories, and hindering police investigations. They all deny the charges.
The Old Bailey heard that in May 2006, the paper was planning to run an exclusive story about the private life of Mr Best.
During an email exchange with Ian Edmondson, a former journalist also on trial, Mr Coulson discussed whether Best might leak the story to others.
“Do his phone,” Coulson wrote in an email shown to the jury.
Mr Edis told the jurors they would have to weigh up what he meant.
The court also heard that phone hacking uncovered a claim that Prince Harry had broken rules at military training academy Sandhurst by asking an aide for help with an essay.
Mr Edis told jurors at the Old Bailey that a story in the News of the World came from a voicemail that was illegally accessed by private investigator Glenn Mulcaire on behalf of the tabloid’s former royal editor Clive Goodman.
It is claimed that the then editor Andy Coulson was also aware of what was happening.
Mr Edis said the story, published on 18 December 2005, was one of a number of stories cited by Goodman as he tried to justify paying Mulcaire a weekly retainer.
The prosecutor said the story, which ran under the headline “Harry’s aide helps out on Sandhurst exams”, had “got into the paper and was based entirely on a voicemail”.
The court heard that Mr Coulson stopped weekly payments to Mr Mulcaire in February 2006, and on the same day Mr Goodman emailed him justifying them in a bid to keep them going.
Referring to Mr Mulcaire only as “matey”, the royal editor said he was a valuable source of stories on the royal family, especially after Prince William started at Sandhurst.
He wrote: “We are the only paper getting any information out of there at all about his movements and Kate’s.”
The court heard that one version of the message, handed to law firm Harbottle and Lewis, ended there, but another version, downloaded by Mr Goodman after he was charged in 2006 and also obtained from the News International system, went on: “There have been several close calls that could have made us some great pics.
“We were five minutes away from catching Kate and William together last Saturday.”
Mr Edis said that although seeing the now-married couple together would not be unusual nowadays, at the time there was interest in it.
The court heard Mr Goodman told Coulson: “This sort of information is not manageable on a story by story basis,” as he described that there were costs of setting up and maintaining surveillance and said Mr Mulcaire was not a “hack” and did not understand what was or was not a story.
Justifying the payments, Mr Goodman wrote: “It’s safe, productive and cost-effective and I am confident it will become a big story goldmine for us if we let it run a bit longer.”
Jurors were also told that a top aide to the Prince of Wales was targeted by NotW journalists, chasing false rumours that the royal’s private secretary Sir Michael Peat had been having an affair.
Prosecutors claim that Mr Goodman paid for two copies of a Royal telephone directory from palace police officers, with the funds allegedly authorised by Mr Coulson.
A total of 15 copies of the book were found in his home when it was searched in 2006, and of those it is claimed that another two belonged to police but were not necessarily sold by officers, the court heard.
One had an officer’s fingerprint on it while another had an officer’s handwriting on it.
The court heard that on 24 January 2003 Goodman emailed Coulson to say: “Andy – one of our royal policemen (St James Palace) has obtained the brand new green book, the telephone directory with all the home numbers of the royal family and their household staff.
Earlier, the court heard the News of the World had hacked the phones of politicians, royal aides, celebrities, actors and high-profile sportsmen.
They included England soccer star Wayne Rooney, actors Jude Law and Sienna Miller, and Tom Parker Bowles, the son of Prince Charles’s second wife Camilla.
The court also heard the paper had hacked the phone of Hannah Pawlby, an adviser to former home secretary Charles Clarke, wrongly believing the two were having an affair.
Ms Pawlby was put under surveillance and Mr Coulson tried to confront Clarke with the allegations.
Prosecutor Mr Edis said Mr Coulson clearly knew about the surveillance operation and the question was whether he knew about hacking.
“He says not, we say ‘yes he does,'” Mr Edis told the jury of nine women and three men.
The jury has been told that three senior journalists from the News of the World have already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to hack phones and that Mr Mulcaire.
On Thursday, the court heard the dramatic revelation that Ms Brooks and Mr Coulson had been having an affair for six years from 1998 at the time journalists on the News of the World were hacking phones.
The prosecution say their close relationship and the fact they were paying Mr Mulcaire large sums when the paper was cutting costs indicated they knew hacking was taking place and was crucial for getting scoops.
Follow @sarahsmithC4 for the latest from the hacking trial
#hackingtrial prosecution say NOTW paid £1000 cash for a royal telephone directory with phone numbers and addresses of royal household
— sarah smith (@sarahsmithC4) November 1, 2013
Prosecution in hacking trial say NotW seem to have failed to hack Callum Best’s phone. No evidence they managed to get to his messages
— sarah smith (@sarahsmithC4) November 1, 2013
So far #hackingtrial been hearing about stories the NotW could not stand up. Didn’t prove Charles Clarke MP having affairs cos he wasnt
— sarah smith (@sarahsmithC4) November 1, 2013