Prince Harry was last night accused by royal staff of ‘breathtaking arrogance’.
They said his self-delusion knew ‘no bounds’ in an extraordinary interview in which he claimed he wanted to ‘protect’ the Queen.
Buckingham Palace was left reeling after the prince said in the US TV appearance that his ‘special’ relationship with his grandmother meant she told him things she would keep from others.
Harry also risked further fuelling the rift with his estranged brother by stating that their mother Diana beyond the grave because she had ‘done her bit’ with William and his family.
His remarks prompted an unprecedented intervention from Downing Street, which dismissed Harry’s suggestion that the Queen needed extra protection. Asked whether the Prime Minister was confident in the arrangements for ensuring the Queen’s welfare, Boris Johnson’s spokesman replied: ‘Yes.’
Harry, 37, was speaking to breakfast show Today from the Invictus Games in the Netherlands, where he is spending the week after flying in from California with wife Meghan.
The couple stopped off en route to see the Queen at Windsor Castle last Thursday, the first time the Duchess of Sussex has set foot in the UK for more than two years. Harry had not seen his grandmother, who turns 96 today, since early last summer.
Harry, 37, was speaking to breakfast show Today (pictured above, with presenter Hoda Kotb) from the Invictus Games in the Netherlands, where he is spending the week after flying in from California with wife Meghan
Buckingham Palace was left reeling after the prince said in the US TV appearance that his ‘special’ relationship with his grandmother (both pictured in 2019) meant she told him things she would keep from others
The Duke of Cambridge, Prince Charles and Prince Harry looking at a mobile phone during day two of the Invictus Games at Lee Valley Athletics Centre in London
While the palace has refused to comment on the meeting, Harry, who is being accompanied by a film crew from Netflix with whom he has signed a production deal, was happy to chat to a journalist from US network NBC about their ‘private’ time together.
The prince appeared to make a pointed swipe at royal household staff, including the so-called ‘men in grey suits’ who advise the Queen – and possibly even his own family.
Speaking of his meeting with his grandmother, Harry said: ‘It was great. It was really nice to see her in some element of privacy. Being with her it was great, it was just so nice to see her, she’s on great form.
‘She’s always got a great sense of humour with me and I’m just making sure that she’s protected and got the right people around her. Both Meghan and I had tea with her, so it was really nice to catch up with her. We have a really special relationship, we talk about things that she can’t talk about with anybody else.’
Harry’s decision to acrimoniously quit as a working royal and spend the past two years making a string of damning accusations against his family is understood to have caused the Queen great heartache.
A spokesman for the prince reportedly refused to explain his remarks in the interview further last night. Buckingham Palace pointedly chose not to comment, as did Kensington Palace on behalf of William.
But one well-placed royal source told the Daily Mail of the sense of shock at his ‘breathtaking arrogance’ and made clear that many felt Harry’s delusion knew ‘no bounds’.
‘It is the Queen’s birthday and despite a difficult year people are working full steam ahead on making her Platinum Jubilee an event to remember that properly honours such a remarkable woman. She just doesn’t deserve this,’ they said.
Harry also risked further fuelling the rift with his estranged brother by stating that their mother Diana beyond the grave because she had ‘done her bit’ with William and his family
During the interview the prince, who is still sixth in line to the throne, also made clear that he was planning to remain in the US for the foreseeable future and did not see the UK as his ‘home’. Pictured: Harry and Meghan on April 17
‘I have no idea what intention he may or may not have had in saying this, but Harry needs to start thinking before he opens his mouth.’
During the interview the prince, who is still sixth in line to the throne, also made clear that he was planning to remain in the US for the foreseeable future and did not see the UK as his ‘home’.
There has been speculation over whether he and his family will make a palace balcony appearance with the Queen during commemorations for her jubilee. But when asked about returning for June’s celebrations he made clear this was not a done deal.
Harry is to sue the Home Office for the decision to pull his taxpayer-funded, 24-hour police protection when he left Britain.
He claims that he does not feel safe bringing his family – children Archie and Lili – back to the UK and wants it reinstated, even if he pays for it himself.
Taking aim at the family he owes his fortune to… the barbs that stunned the Palace
By Rebecca English Royal Editor for the Daily Mail
The smooth build-up to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations was thrown off course yesterday by Prince Harry’s extraordinary interview. In it, he said:
The Queen and me
Speaking to US network NBC’s Today show from the Netherlands, where he is attending the Invictus Games, Harry, 37, was asked about his reunion with the Queen at Windsor on Thursday last week.
Buckingham Palace has maintained a dignified silence on the meeting – in part out of respect to the monarch, who loves her grandson – but Harry did not choose to issue a polite ‘no comment’.
In fact he went further. He said it was refreshing to meet her ‘in some element of privacy’, and made the extraordinary claim that he wants to ‘protect’ his grandmother, apparently suggesting she was not being well served by some of the ‘people around her’.
Interviewer Hoda Kotb asked: ‘How did it feel being back, being with her?’
Harry replied: ‘It was great. It was so nice to see her. She’s on great form. She’s always got a great sense of humour with me. Just making sure she’s protected and got the right people around her.’
Speaking to US network NBC’s Today show from the Netherlands, where he is attending the Invictus Games, Harry, 37, was asked about his reunion with the Queen at Windsor on Thursday last week
Buckingham Palace has maintained a dignified silence on the meeting – in part out of respect to the monarch, who loves her grandson – but Harry did not choose to issue a polite ‘no comment’. Pictured: a new portrait of the Queen which has been released by The Royal Windsor Horse Show to mark the occasion of her 96th birthday
Words about Diana that could anger Wills
Their relationship is already hanging by a thread. And Harry’s comments about their late mother Princess Diana are unlikely to heal any wounds with his estranged elder brother, Prince William.
He told NBC Today’s Hoda Kotb he believed Diana was now watching over him as ‘she’s done her bit with my brother’.
Asked whether he felt his ‘mum’s presence’, Harry said: ‘It’s constant. It has been over the past two years, more so than ever before.
‘It’s almost as though she’s done her bit with my brother and now she’s very much helping me. She’s got him set up, and now she’s helping me set up. That’s what it feels like. He’s got his kids, I’ve got my kids.
‘The circumstances are obviously different. I feel her presence in almost everything I do, but definitely in the last two years than before without question. She’s watching over us.’
Kensington Palace declined to comment. But his words are likely to anger William, who has made clear he finds any sense of ‘ownership’ over Diana’s memory ‘crass’.
It is not clear exactly what he meant. Was he referring to the loyal members of the Royal Family – the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall or the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – none of whom have uttered a word about recent events?
Or did he mean she was being let down by her staff? Harry has frequently revealed that he, like his mother before him, has an inherent distrust of the ‘men in grey suits’ around the royals.
But as well as senior courtiers, the Queen is also served by long-standing and loyal personal staff including her confidante Angela Kelly, her page ‘Tall Paul’ Whybrew and Master of the Household Vice Admiral Sir Tony Johnstone-Burt, all of whom have her best interests firmly at heart.
There are also questions over how Harry, no longer a working member of the Royal Family – and who claims he cannot even come to the UK because he fears for his family’s safety – is able to ‘protect’ the Queen.
I’m her confidant
Harry went on to claim that the Queen tells him things she feels she cannot tell anyone else.
He said: ‘We have a really special relationship. We talk about things that she can’t talk about with anybody else. So that’s always a nice piece to it.’
That Harry has always enjoyed a good relationship with his grandmother is of no doubt. The monarch most definitely has a soft spot for him and he has always been able to persuade her to step out of her comfort zone.
When he started the Invictus Games, the Queen was so proud that she agreed to star in a viral social media skit with him. But the idea that she would discuss anything with him that she would not discuss with Charles, William or any other close members of her family, was greeted with derision by some insiders yesterday.
UK no longer home
The prince made clear that he has firmly settled in California. He said: ‘Home for me now is for the time being… in the States and it feels that way. We’ve been welcomed with open arms and have a great community in Santa Barbara.’ He moved with Meghan to Montecito, California, after their decision to step down as senior royals in 2020.
The balcony at the Jubilee?
Don’t be so sure…When questioned about whether the Queen would be bored with her Platinum Jubilee, Harry replied with a laugh: ‘No, I don’t think so. She’s had a few jubilees now, every one is slightly different but I’m sure she’s looking forward to it.’
In recent days there has been fevered speculation about whether the prince will make a appearance on the Buckingham Palace balcony with the Queen.
The Mail’s sources have always issued caution over this, stressing: ‘He only met with his grandmother last week. There’s a lot of ground to be covered between now and June. It is by no means a done deal in any way, shape or form.’ When Miss Kotb asked Harry if he would return to the United Kingdom for the Jubilee, he said: ‘I don’t know yet, there’s lots of things – security issues and everything else.
‘So this is what I’m trying to do, trying to make it possible that, you know, I can get my kids to meet her.’
The prince made clear that he has firmly settled in California. He said: ‘Home for me now is for the time being… in the States and it feels that way’
The prince has launched a High Court legal action against the Home Office for stripping him of his round-the-clock police protection when he and Meghan quit as senior royals.
His critics believe Harry has boxed himself into a corner with this latest in a long line of legal actions, making it impossible for him to bring his children Archie, two, and ten-month-old Lilibet to the UK.
His children
Harry – who claims part of the reason he wanted to quit as a working royal was because of his lack of privacy – spoke at length about his children.
Speaking of his pride at being a father, he said: ‘I love every part of it. I always wanted to be a dad and now I have two little people I’m responsible for.’ Harry said he tells Archie about his late ‘Grandma Diana’, although not her entire life story.
Asked about his ‘typical’ day, he revealed: ‘It revolves around the kids as much as humanly possible. This whole working from home stuff is not all it’s cracked up to be.’
He added: ‘My mantra now every day, and it’s a dangerous one because I need to make sure I don’t have burnout, but it’s trying to make the world a better place for my kids, otherwise what’s the point in bringing kids into this world? That’s a responsibility I feel as a parent and you probably do as well. We can’t fix everything but we can be there for each other.’
His family
When asked if he missed his family ‘at home’ – the UK – Harry’s answer was perfunctory, saying ‘most people’ had missed their loved ones during the Covid pandemic.
He sidestepped a specific question about whether he missed his ‘brother and dad’, both of whom have been deeply hurt by his actions.
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