Man in court accused of robbing Prince Harry's close friend (From Wandsworth Guardian)

Streatham man Winful Taylor in court accused of robbing Prince Harry's close friend

11:30am Monday 20th August 2012 in News

A man is due to go on trial charged with robbing a friend of Prince Harry as he chatted to him on the phone in the street in Battersea.

The Prince drove to help Thomas van Straubenzee after the incident in Albert Bridge Road on November 30 last year.

When he could not find him, he searched for his friend until he found him in a local police station where he was reporting the crime.

The Royal then gave a statement to detectives.

Winful Taylor, of Streatham, is charged with robbery and will go on trial this week at Kingston Crown Court.

At the time of the incident, a Clarence House spokesman said: "Prince Harry joined a friend at a police station in south London after his friend had reported a robbery.

"By the time Prince Harry arrived to be with his friend, the police investigation into the incident had already begun."

Mr van Straubenzee, who is also close friends with the Duke of Cambridge, first met Harry at Ludgrove Prep School.

He accompanied the Prince on his first official tour to New Zealand.

The royal brothers are patrons of a memorial fund dedicated to Mr van Straubenzee's brother, Henry, who was killed in a car crash in 2002.