Kate Waddington, duchess's PR adviser for 20 years, among 50 people who have lodged claims against NoW publisher
A former aide to Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, is suing News International over allegations her phone was hacked by the News of the World.
Kate Waddington is a close confidante of Ferguson and acted as her public relations adviser and spokeswoman for 20 years.
She is among 50 individuals including Cherie Blair and Wayne Rooney who have lodged high court claims against the publisher.
Waddington, like all those suing News International over alleged hacking, has been shown notes kept on her by the private investigator at the centre of the scandal, Glenn Mulcaire.
The notes were made available under legal disclosure by the Metropolitan police and it is understood they show that her voicemail was frequently hacked into between 2004 and 2006.
Ferguson has been the target of countless News of the World exposés over the years, most recently the subject of an undercover operation mounted by Mazher Mahmood, who in 2010 filmed her offering access to her former husband, Prince Andrew, for £500,000.
Waddington knew nothing of the meeting and resigned after the News of the World published the story, but remains close to Ferguson and her daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
Earlier this week, the high court heard that 417 people had now been given disclosure from the police in relation to Mulcaire.
About 100 of those are expected to go ahead with full legal action against News International by the August deadline set by Mr Justice Vos for the second tranche of civil suits against the publisher.
Vos made it clear at a case management hearing on Wednesday that he did not want to have a third tranche of civil proceedings against the publisher and has asked solicitors on both side to take an advert out in legal magazines instructing lawyers acting for potential victims to get their claims in on time.
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