The actress addressed what The Times claims is a juicy piece of gossip floating around in the U.K. -- namely, that Harry shagged Hurley as a teenager ... marking his first time. In an interview with the outlet, EH flatly debunks any notion of this being true.

She's quoted as saying, "“Not me. Not guilty. Ha!” The author writes, "Something about that 'ha!' gives me pause," seemingly following up on it with her ... and Hurley responds with, "No. Not me. Absolutely not."

The Times notes that Hurley used to have a farmhouse in Gloucestershire -- northwest of London, and a bit south of Birmingham -- and that, in previous interviews, she'd made mention of how much fun it was to bang on a rug by the fireplace of her home.

They connect that with yet another rumor ... that Harry's set to reveal he first had sex with a beautiful older woman in the "countryside" as a teen -- something he'll supposedly reveal in "Spare" -- but apparently doesn't name names, or disclose other deets that'd pin this down.

As for how that ties to Liz, The Times simply states -- "There's a rumor it was Hurley," but it's unclear where the hell they're even getting that. In any case, it's in the rumor mill now.

We did some math and it sorta helps paint a clearer picture of when this alleged hookup could've possibly occurred. Harry would've been a "teen" between 1997 and 2003 (13 and 19, respectively) and that overlaps up with when Hurley owned this crib ... 2002 to 2015.