Teacher recorded Prince Harry confessing to cheating, tribunal told

1.00pm - By RICHARD GARNER


Prince Harry was secretly taped by his art teacher at Eton to prove her claims that he had cheated in an AS-level exam, a tribunal heard.

Sarah Forsyth, who has lodged a claim for unfair dismissal against the leading independent school, admitted that she duped the young Prince, her QC, Robin Allen, claimed.

Mr Allen told the employment tribunal in Reading that she made the tape as a last resort after her complaints of harassment against another member of staff had been ignored by the school.

He said Prince Harry had been recorded saying "tiny, tiny bit ... I did about a sentence of it," referring to his AS-level coursework.

Mr Allen said the 30-year-old art teacher, whose contract was terminated by Eton last year, had been instructed by Eton's head of art, Ian Burke, in the spring of 2003 to "carry out certain work on the AS project of Prince Harry".

The task was given to her after she had been told she would only be given a one-year contract.

"She was not happy about it [the instructions to help the Prince]," said Mr Allen.

"She feared that if she complained she would be victimised.

"She said she felt it was unethical and probably contributed to cheating and she felt she had been asked to do it because of Prince Harry's position."

Miss Forsyth felt "somewhat concerned at the time because no one was willing to listen and act" on her complaints. She decided to make the recording because it was "the clearest example of Mr Burke's cheating".

Moments before the start of his A-level exam, she called Harry into her room. After a two-minute chat, she said he confirmed that he had written "about a sentence of" the examination project submitted a year earlier.

Nigel Giffen QC, for Eton College, described Miss Forsyth's conduct as "pretty grubby".

He argued that Eton's headmaster, Tony Little, had been unaware of the conversation recorded by Miss Forsyth at the time of his decision to dismiss her.

He said the "Harry issue" should be excluded from the evidence, adding that Miss Forsyth had sought to secure a larger pay-off than the £10,000 offered to her as compensation by telling the school: "I will not mention Prince Harry's AS-level except as a last resort."

Mr Giffen said: "This tells us all that we need to know about Miss Forsyth's attitude.

"It is nothing to do with bringing wrongdoings out. It is just a threat to use disclosure as a way of helping herself."

He added that her attitude towards the Prince was "a pretty appalling way for any teacher to behave towards any pupil, regardless of who they are - a gross breach of trust and unlawful".

But the tribunal rejected Eton's argument that the Prince Harry evidence should not be included as part of the case. The chairman of the panel, Richard Byrne, said "it was impossible to put the genie back into the bottle".

Last night a spokesman for the Prince of Wales stressed that exam board Edexcel had investigated and dismissed the allegation as unfounded.

Paddy Harveson, communications secretary to Prince Charles, said: "This is incredibly unfair on Harry. Miss Forsyth's lawyers have given the court a brief extract from the tape and placed their own interpretation on it. This is why we have given people an opportunity to hear the tape for themselves.

"It contains barely audible half-sentences and it appears to have been edited. It is also difficult to tell what Harry is saying and what he is referring to, due to the poor quality of the recording and the disjointed nature of the tape. The fact remains that Harry did not cheat. The allegations have been independently investigated and proven unfounded."

In the transcript, released by Eton last night, the wording differed slightly from the version given by Mr Allen in court with the Prince apparently saying: "I was, like, a sentence in it."

The full hearing of Miss Forsyth's case will take place in May next year.

- INDEPENDENT