Police did not want the full extent of hacking including that of Kate Middleton and Prince William known publicly because they wanted to protect the News of the World's "victims", it was claimed at an Old Bailey trial.

Clive Goodman, the paper's former royal editor who yesterday admitted hacking Middleton 155 times, said that he has been "completely open, honest and frank about phone hacking".

But, he told jurors, it was only because of questions in the present questions in the hacking trial, that he had named those he personally hacked. "What I had done I had admitted to and paid an extremely high price for it," he told jurors, reminding them he was jailed for hacking offences in 2007.

Compared with a senior journalist on the paper, Goodman had said he was just a "spear carrier" rather than the "five act opera" of hacking.

He repeated an allegation he made on Wednesday that most major stories in the News of the World came from hacking.

"There was not a single significant story broken at the NoW in the last couple of years" that the senior journalist had not got from hacked voicemails, he said.

Goodman was jailed and dismissed in 2007 after he pleaded guilty to hacking three royal aides.

He was confronted about his hacking of Middleton, Prince William and Prince Harry for the first time on Wednesday during cross-examination by counsel for Andy Coulson, his then editor.

Goodman replied: "As I said yesterday I have been completely open and honest about the extent of phone hacking.

"The reason these things did not come into the public domain before was the police and CPS in 2006, 2007 decided they were not going to publish things to protect the discretion of the victims.

"The only reason they came up now is they were not out there in the public domain at the time."

He went on: "Whatever I have been accused of I have admitted to and paid an extremely high price for it."

He has not been charged with hacking as part of the current trial but has been charged with two offences of conspiring to cause misconduct in public office by paying palace police for royal phone directories. He denies the charges.

Timothy Langdale QC, for Coulson, asked Goodman about a meeting he had following his imprisonment about his dismissal from the paper.

Langdale asked why he omitted information on his own hacking.

"Were you concerned not to tell them the full extent of your hacking?" Langdale asked.

He added: "The one thing you were not going to tell them was the extent of your activities."

Goodman denied this and said the information was not relevant as the terms of the meeting related to the alleged knowledge Coulson and had about hacking.

He said when he appealed against his dismissal when he got out of jail, he wanted others to "admit their responsibility".

Langdale put it to him that after his arrest "you've built up an increasing body of resentment which you did not possess at the time".

Goodman denied this was the case.

He has previously testified that Coulson was a friend but when he became editor of the paper in 2003 he became aggressive and bullying, which Coulson has denied.

Goodman told jurors that Coulson had kicked a desk when he told him he couldn't go on a job to America because of child care. He also said he felt "pretty much out of a job" when he was told another reporter would be going on the US royal tour and that he would be covering the young royals.

Coulson has been charged with conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office and conspiring to hack phones. He denies all charges.

Langdale challenged Goodman about an email he had sent to his sister complaining after being challenged by the deputy managing editor about cash payments to his sources. "I feel like peeling his face right off his skull," he had said.

"More resentment building up?" asked Langdale.

Goodman denied this was case, saying he was more "frustrated" with the executive.

"Is it correct Mr Goodman that you just resent any criticism of you at all," Langdale asked.

"No, not at all," Goodman replied, adding "When you get things wrong you just take it on the chin."

The trial continues.