Four senior journalists at The Sun – two of them from Kent – paid Army officials thousands of pounds for “banal” tittle-tattle about Prince William and Prince Harry, a court heard.

The title’s royal correspondent Duncan Larcombe, 39, of High Street, Aylesford, allegedly paid ex-Sandhurst colour sergeant John Hardy, 44, for details about the Army base where Prince Harry trained.

Hardy funnelled the £23,000 of payments through his 41-year-old wife Claire, the Old Bailey was told.

Deputy editor Geoffrey Webster, 55, of Winchett Hill, Goudhurst, is also accused of paying thousands of pounds to public officials. He allegedly authorised reporters to pay a total of £6,500 between July 2010 and August 2011.

“These were not whistle blowers honourably bringing to the attention of the press and public some terrible wrong they had discovered while activated by honest and proper motives” - Prosecutor Michael Parroy QC

Chief reporter John Kay, 71, paid Ministry of Defence official Bettina Jordan-Barber £100,000 for information, the court was told.

Jordan-Barber, 42, was a strategy officer who worked on the Iraq desk and briefed the defence secretary.

The Sun’s executive editor Fergus Shanahan, 59, is also accused of plotting to pay a public official for stories. He allegedly authorised the payment of £7,000 for two exclusives while acting as deputy editor.

Prosecutor Michael Parroy QC described the stories, which included sex scandals and embarrassing conduct, as ‘prurient, morbid or banal’.

“This trial is about greed,” he said.

“These were not whistle blowers honourably bringing to the attention of the press and public some terrible wrong they had discovered while activated by honest and proper motives.”

Mr Parroy added: ‘This trial is not, most emphatically not, an intended assault upon the fundamental freedoms of the press.

“Paying public officials money to get them to provide information that they had in confidence as a result of their jobs and which they had no business providing is, we say, a crime.”

John Hardy, of Oswaldswystle, Accrington, Lancashire, denies misconduct in public office.

Claire Hardy, of the same address, denies aiding and abetting misconduct in public office.

Larcombe denies counselling and procuring misconduct in public office.

Webster denies two counts of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office and Kay, of Golders Green, north London, denies conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.

Shanahan, from Felsted, Essex, denies conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.

The trial continues.

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