Prince Harry has been seen in public for the first time since his interview with Oprah Winfrey two weeks ago left his relationship with the Royal Family hanging by a thread.
The Duke of Sussex left his wife Meghan and son Archie at their £10million mansion and hit the road on an expensive electric bike followed by a security team in a 4×4 as he pedalled through Montecito, California.
Harry, wearing New Balance trainers, a hooded top, £62 Adidas sweatpants, The Mission Continues veterans’ association baseball cap, sunglasses and mask, looked serious while racing through LA traffic as the Oprah interview continues to make headlines around the globe.
The prince was seen whizzing along a cycle lane on his electric bike, turning left down a side street as traffic queued behind him.
As he hit the road, 5,400 miles away in Britain his brother William and his wife Kate, continued their royal duties as sources close to the Queen said she is ‘sad but not angry’ – but has privately pledged to stand by Harry.
Today William recorded a special message for Comic Relief on BBC One in the UK tonight, to thank the British public for their generosity during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prince Harry has been seen in public for the first time since he and his wife Meghan rocked the royals with their Oprah interview
Harry was trailed by his security team as he pedalled through Montecito in the Californian sunshine
Harry, wearing a cap, sunglasses, mask and sportswear used the bike lane near the Sussexes £10million mansion
Harry, wearing New Balance trainers, a hooded top, £62 Adidas sweatpants, The Mission Continues veterans’ association baseball cap, sunglasses and mask, looked serious while racing through LA traffic
Harry left his wife and son at home when he was spotted briefly enjoying a ride alone with his security
Harry peeled off left as his bodyguard followed in a 4×4 – the first time he’s been seen in around a fortnight
Harry is understood to have spoken to his brother William, but it is believed to have not gone well
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have insisted that the two-hour sit down with CBS would be their ‘final word’ on their decision to quit as frontline royals, although their friends in the media including Gayle King have helped give a running commentary.
Ms King – a friend of Meghan’s who attended her 2019 NYC baby shower and one of Winfrey’s closest confidantes – disclosed this week that initial talks between Harry and his father the Prince of Wales and William were ‘not productive’.
And, in a thinly-veiled threat, the breakfast show presenter said the duchess had ‘documents to back up everything she said on Oprah’s interview’. She also said no-one from the royal family had yet talked to Meghan, perhaps not unsurprisingly given the plethora of highly damaging allegations she levelled against them.
Yesterday, just days after the royals were plunged into a family crisis as a result of the Sussexes’ explosive US television interview, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were pictured standing in front of a ‘Healing Hurt’ heart mural in London – complete with a crown.
William, 38, and Kate, 39, were visiting Newham Ambulance Station in east London to hear how the paramedics and staff have coped during the pandemic, with a strong focus on mental health.
But in the back of everyone’s minds was the continuing family fall-out as a result of Harry and Meghan’s bombshell chat with Oprah.
Harry looked sporty in his £62 Adidas sweatpants and New Balance trainers as he took some exercise in LA
Prince Harry’s $1,499 electric bike: Duke of Sussex is spotted on RadCity Step-Thru 3 which has top speed of 20mph
Prince Harry was seen in California riding what appears to be a RadCity Step-Thru 3 electric bicycle.
It is marketed as a commuter bike, although it is unlikely Harry was using the bike to go to work, considering his recent claims of financial issues despite deals with Netflix and Spotify for a reported $25million each.
Electric bikes have become increasingly popular recently as an effort-free way to travel the roads.
Pictured, a black RadCity Step-Thru 3 electric bicycle. It retails at $1,499 (£1,080) and is also available in white
They allow a person to skip past traffic and utilise bike lanes while using an electric motor to propel themselves.
The battery packs are charged by the pedals and help spin the back wheel.
Despite being able to reach a top speed of 20mph, the 65lb bike does not require a license to ride.
Users can also whizz along the pavement or road without a helmet, like Prince Harry was seen doing, with just a baseball cap to protect his head.
The battery pack takes six hours to charge and is good for up to 50 minutes before needing to be charged up.
Many tax-paying motorists have become increasingly disgruntled with e-bikes, as well as electric scooters, because they are seen to be trying to ‘have it both ways’.
On one side, they are similar to a vehicle because they motorised and use the roads but they also pay no road tax, are able to use the pavements and cycle lanes and do not have registration plates.
The Cambridges did not discuss the rift it has caused, although a week ago William was forced to speak out at another royal event and publicly hit back against Harry and Meghan’s race claims, insisting, ‘We’re very much not a racist family’.
The Duchess of Sussex accused the royal family of racism and said the institution failed to help her when she had suicidal thoughts.
Harry also said he felt let down by his father in the Prince of Wales and wanted to heal the relationship but ‘there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened’.
He admitted there was a gulf, still, between himself and William but insisted that he loved him, adding that ‘time heals all things, hopefully’.
The Queen has said the issues raised in the Oprah interview will be dealt with privately as a family, but that ‘some recollections may vary’, indicating that a number of family members are unwilling to accept Harry and Meghan’s claims.
The wellbeing garden at the ambulance station was established in 2019 as a way of promoting discussion about mental health.
The colourful murals and paintings were by street art group Art Under The Hood.
During their visit, to talk to staff about their experiences of working during one of the most challenging periods in the London Ambulance Service’s history, William and Kate even ended up FaceTiming a paramedic’s father in Bangladesh.
Paramedic Jay Khan asked the couple if it was okay to call her dad, Abu, in Bangladesh, who has been staying separated from his family since lockdown after his mother fell ill.
William told Abu: ‘You must be very proud of your daughter.’ Abu replied: ‘Yes we are all very proud of her.’ The royals also joined a call with Jay’s sister Nasrin and granddad Baharam in the UK.
William told them: ‘She works very hard and she’s looking forward to seeing you soon.’
Kate, wearing a £349 coat by Massimo Dutti, £550 Kiki McDonough yellow gold earrings and a reusable cloth face mask, added: ‘Hopefully it won’t be too long before you can all meet up and see each other again.’
The couple laughed as Jay told her family: ‘Say bye now. Let them go.’ William quipped: ‘We can stay here and do some more family chatting if that works?’
They also met paramedic Shani Smith who has been helping to run one of the special tea trucks to serve ambulance staff and medics over the past year, and heard how she has used her mental health training to provide peer support to her colleagues.
Shani, who has worked for the service for over 20 years, said this was the worst time she had ever experienced.
‘It’s been like one long major incident,’ she said.
Harry had a deal with broadcasters to pull the explosive interview he and Meghan gave should his grandfather Prince Philip die, a close friend claimed yesterday.
In another extraordinarily indiscreet revelation, US TV host Gayle King claimed an agreement was in place before the programme was aired on March 7.
Harry and Meghan have prompted fresh outrage after sharing private conversations with Prince Charles and Prince William with US journalist Gayle King. Speaking on CBS This Morning, Miss King said: ‘Meghan has documents to back up everything that she said on Oprah’s interview. Everything’
Yesterday, just days after the royals were plunged into a family crisis as a result of the Sussexes’ explosive US television interview, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were pictured standing in front of a ‘Healing Hurt’ heart mural in London – complete with a crown
William and Kate talk with the family of paramedic Jahrin (Jay) Khan via a mobile phone. The family is in London but her father joined the conversation from Bangladesh. Ms Khan has been unable to see her family through the pandemic
Queen ‘is sad, not angry’ after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Oprah interview that accused a senior Royal of racism
The Queen is ‘sad but not angry’ after Harry and Meghan’s bombshell Oprah interview where they accused a senior royal of racism, according to insiders.
The shocking interview saw the Duke and Duchess of Sussex claim a royal had raised concerns about their son Archie’s skin colour.
The revelation sparked a frenzy with royal watchers speculating about the identity of the family member who made the comment.
Now, sources say the Queen was not angered by the interview and instead has privately pledged to stand by Harry.
The Queen has ordered a private family investigation into Harry and Meghan’s claims of racism
An insider told the Sun: ‘She is not angry, she is just sad. They have always worried about him (Harry) and the Queen feels very protective about him.
‘They always tried to support him when Meghan came along. They all worried less about him when Meghan was on the scene as he seemed so happy.’
It comes after Prince William said the royals are ‘not a racist family’ with the Queen ordering a private family investigation into the claims.
The Queen ordered a private family investigation into the claims which included accusations a unnamed member of the family raised ‘concerns’ about the skin colour of their children.
Buckingham Palace did not comment.
At the time, the Duke of Edinburgh, 99, had been hospitalised for more than two weeks, with Buckingham Palace announcing on March 4 that he had undergone heart surgery as well as treatment for an infection.
It is widely believed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex filmed their interview with Oprah Winfrey, in which they made a series of highly damaging accusations about senior members of the Royal Family, after Philip was admitted to hospital on February 16.
Miss King, one of Miss Winfrey’s closest friends, yesterday insisted that it had been ‘done and scheduled’ by then, however.
But there appear to be inconsistencies in her story. On the day that Philip was admitted to King Edward VII’s Hospital in London, Miss King went on air to say that Miss Winfrey had been working on her questions ‘all weekend’ and had been told by Meghan that ‘nothing was off limits’, intimating the interview had yet to be filmed.
This was backed by industry sources, who told ITV that the interview would be filmed later that week. It was shown on CBS in the US on March 7 and on ITV in the UK the following evening.
Philip finally left hospital on Tuesday, the day Miss King, who attended Meghan’s 2019 baby shower in New York, shocked royal aides by saying she had spoken to the couple and was told that Harry had been speaking to his father and brother but the talks were ‘not productive’.
The leaking of details of their private peace talks is believed to have severely undermined attempts to build bridges between Harry and his family.
Yesterday Miss King, who fronts the breakfast show on CBS, used a radio show to claim: ‘They had done that interview before Prince Philip went into the hospital. And if something, God forbid, had happened to him, the interview would not have run.’
Miss King also claimed that the Royal Family’s treatment of the couple, who live in an £11million mansion in California, was poor. They spoke out only because they ‘wanted people to have some understanding about why they made the decision’ to quit royal duties and leave the UK.
‘I think it was very brave of her and Harry to reveal what they did,’ she said. ‘It’s unheard of, and it certainly has been a… “bombshell” is the word.
‘There were six or seven that night. I stopped counting at six. It was bombshell after bombshell after bombshell, but I do believe it was an honest conversation. I’m hoping it will lead to change.’
Meghan claimed in her interview that a story suggesting she had made the Duchess of Cambridge cry during a bridesmaid’s dress fitting for Princess Charlotte was wrong, and that in fact Kate had made her cry.
Miss King said: ‘Well, I think part of the problem… she was vilified for making Kate cry when really the opposite was true.’
Buckingham Palace has refused to be drawn into a public war of words. A senior palace source told the Mail: ‘None of the households will be giving a running commentary on private conversations.’
Royals aides appear horrified that either the duke or duchess would tell anyone, let alone a TV journalist, about Harry’s discussions with his family. They fail to see how it will help repair relationships or rebuild trust.