The Duke of Sussex ‘stands by’ what he said in phone calls with Russian pranksters but felt ‘violated’ by the ‘malicious’ experience, royal experts have claimed.
Speaking on the Heirpod podcast with ABC Foreign Correspondent Maggie Rulli, royal expert Omid Scobie revealed Prince Harry, 35, ‘wasn’t so concerned about what was said on the call’ but had been left with ‘a feeling of violation.’
Meanwhile Maggie added that she found the prank ‘gut-wrenching’ and noted how the ‘timing’ had been bad for Prince Harry, saying: ‘They got him to talk about a lot of personal things. They got him to open up and be really vulnerable.’
In the toe-curling phone chats released last week, Prince Harry opened his heart about Megxit, being more ‘normal’ than other royals and how Donald Trump has ‘blood on his hands’ with YouTube stars posing as environmentalist Greta Thunberg and her father.
Prince Harry, 35, ‘stands by’ what he said during phonecalls with Russian pranksters but is more concerned over ‘the feeling of violation’ left by the experience, according to royal expert Omid Scobie
Speaking on the podcast, Omid revealed: ‘I spoke with a source close to Harry earlier in the week. He wasn’t so concerned about what was said on the call and that being out there.
‘He stands by what he says, he’s not there to hide anything from anyone. But it’s that feeling of violation, it’s not a pleasant feeling to experience.’
He added: ‘It also comes at a time when the Sussexes have been through enough.’
Meanwhile Maggie added: ‘It’s just gut-wrenching. Anything that purposefully makes someone else feel stupid, it’s just mean, right?’
Speaking on the Heirpod podcast, Omid said a source close to Prince Harry said the royal ‘stands by what he said’ during phonecalls with Russian prankstars (pictured, with Meghan Markle, 35, on their final engagement as senior royals last week)
‘Listening to it, it’s always tough when you hear someone open up and be vulnerable to someone on the other end of the line and to hear that flipped on them, is just so difficult?
‘They got him to talk about a lot of personal things. They got him to open up and be really vulnerable.’
She went on: ‘They had just had this huge trip back to the UK, all eyes were on them.
‘So to have it come out when the trip was still wrapping up and Harry was by himself. The timing was also just an extra stick-in-the-eye.’
The two phonecalls took place while Prince Harry was living in Canada earlier this year alongside Meghan and their son Archie (pictured, Prince Harry with Archie in December)
‘If it wasn’t bad enough, now everyone is looking at you during this hoax.’
In the phone calls, which emerged last week, the Duke insisted he chose to withdraw from royal life to ‘protect my son’ and said ‘we are completely separate from the majority of my family’ .
When asked about Meghan he admitted candidly that ‘marrying a prince or princess isn’t all it’s made up to be’ and that their new life in Canada is ‘much better’ than serving as senior royals.
He also risked a diplomatic row as he waded into politics with his comments President Trump and Boris Johnson, and his belief that the world was ‘severely unbalanced in favour of bad leaders.
During the phonecalls, Prince Harry insisted he chose to withdraw from royal life to ‘protect my son’ and said he and Meghan were ‘completely separate from the majority of my family’ (pictured, the couple with Archie in September)
His comments were blasted by experts, who said royals ‘certainly shouldn’t express political or party political views’ and Harry should have been sure about who he was talking to before exposing his feelings.
Royal commentator and former Editor of International Who’s Who, Richard Fitzwilliams, told MailOnline: ‘He was off his guard, in a vulnerable state. He shouldn’t have expressed these clearly controversial views on Boris, and particularly Trump, with his ‘blood on his hands’ statement – unless he knew who he was talking to.
‘Royals certainly shouldn’t publicly express political or party political views.’