The former wife of Sir Paul McCartney never authorised former News of the World editor Piers Morgan, or anybody else, to listen to her voicemails, she told the inquiry into press standards today.
Chat show host Morgan has previously told the inquiry he listened to a voicemail message left to Mills by Sir Paul, but refused to say when or where he heard it because he wanted to protect a “source”.
Today Ms Mills said she had never authorised Morgan, or anybody, to access or listen to her voicemails, and neither had she ever played a recording to the former editor.
“I couldn’t quite believe that he would even try to insinuate, a man that has written nothing but awful things about me for years, would relish in telling the court if I had played a voicemail message to him,” she said.
Earlier the News of the World's former head of news was told to deliberately mislead the McCanns' spokesman about the newspaper's plans to publish Kate McCann's diary, he said today.
Ian Edmondson told the inquiry that former editor Colin Myler told him to have a “woolly” conversation with Clarence Mitchell about plans to publish Mrs McCann’s diary so he did not know what the newspaper was planning to do.
Mrs McCann has told the inquiry she felt “violated” and like “climbing into a hole and not coming out” when the intensely private journal appeared in the now-defunct paper on September 14 2008.
Mr Myler has said he would never have published the diary - which was obtained from a female Portuguese journalist - if he had realised she was not aware of what the paper was planning to do.
He said Mr Edmondson told him he had cleared the story with Clarence Mitchell.
The News of the World's ex-legal manager Tom Crone has also told the inquiry he understood a representative of the McCanns gave the News of the World permission to publish the diary.
But the inquiry has heard that a transcript of a phone call between Mr Edmondson and Mr Mitchell about the story the paper was planning was “most clearly ambiguous”, and the spokesman has denied Mr Edmondson ever told him what the paper was really planning.
Mr Edmondson today said he had not made it clear, on the express instructions of Mr Myler.
He said he had attended a meeting with Mr Myler and Mr Crone where they discussed the story.
“Tom gave his legal view which I am told I am not allowed to repeat but which dismayed, shall I say, Mr Myler,” he said.
“So he decided to ask me to make a call to Mr Mitchell, not make it clear what we had, telling him in general terms, basically make it woolly.
“I think someone previously used the word ambiguous, that is absolutely spot on what he wanted.
“He was frightened that if Clarence knew what we had, he might take action.”
Mr Edmondson, who was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept voicemail messages last year and is on bail, is bringing an unfair dismissal claim against News International.
PA