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’.
Prince Harry said that he has a ‘really special relationship’ with the Queen while sitting down for an interview with the Today show’s Hoda Kotb
When asked about whether he ‘misses’ his brother and father, the Duke, 37, said instead that he wanted to ‘focus’ on the Invictus Games, which he is hosting in the Netherlands
The Prince also explained that California is his family’s home, after being welcomed ‘with open arms’ to Santa Barbara. Above, at the Invictus Games
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.’
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.
Prince Harry refused to say whether he misses his brother Prince William and father Prince Charles while sitting down for an interview with the Today show’s Hoda Kotb – however he insisted he still has a ‘special relationship’ with the Queen
When asked whether he ‘misses’ his brother and father (seen left together in 2020), the Duke, 37, refused to answer, insisting he wanted to ‘focus’ on the Invictus Games, which he is hosting in the Netherlands. He also praised his grandmother’s ‘sense of humor’ and said she is able to speak to him ‘about things that she can’t talk about with anybody else’ (seen together right)
![Harry spoke about his late mother Princess Diana's 'constant presence' in his life, saying that he has felt it 'more so [in the last two years] than ever before' and adding that he believes she has helped him to 'get set up' with his new life in California](https://cdn.statically.io/img/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/04/20/21/56831341-0-Harry_spoke_about_his_late_mother_Princess_Diana_s_constant_pres-a-54_1650487800898.jpg)
Harry spoke about his late mother Princess Diana’s ‘constant presence’ in his life, saying that he has felt it ‘more so [in the last two years] than ever before’ and adding that he believes she has helped him to ‘get set up’ with his new life in California
HARRY’S LOADED REMARKS
ON THE QUEEN
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. We have a really special relationship. We talk about things that she can’t talk about with anybody else, so that is always a nice piece to it.
ON ATTENDING THE PLATINUM JUBILEE
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.
ON CHARLES AND WILLIAM
When I leave here [the Invictus Games], I go back and my focus is my family, who I miss massively.
ON AMERICA
Home for me now is, you know, for the time being, it’s in the States. And it feels that way as well.
ON DIANA’S PRESENCE
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.
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.
The Duke of Sussex’s interview with Kotb comes just over a year after his and Meghan’s explosive on-air sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, which saw the couple airing several very damaging allegations against the royal family
While Harry (seen with Kotb) refused to comment on his relationship with his brother and father, he did praise the Queen’s sense of humor and told the Today anchor that he made his grandmother laugh when they met in a secret meeting last week
The interview will also see Harry opening up about the Invictus Games; the Today show shared an image of the Duke posing alongside Kotb and one of the US veterans taking part
Kotb also posted a behind-the-scenes snap on her social media accounts, while encouraging her followers to tune in to Wednesday’s broadcast
The Today anchor posted a glimpse at the interview on Instagram, showing Harry looking down in an apparent moment of reflection during the sit-down
‘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 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.
Harry and Meghan made a secret visit to the Queen (seen together in 2018) last week during a quick stop-off in the UK on their way to the Netherlands
The Sussexes’ secret trip marked the first time that Meghan has returned to the UK since the couple (seen at the Invictus Games) sensationally quit the royal family at the start of 2020
The Queen has yet to meet her namesake great-granddaughter Lilibet (right), who was born in California in June last year, and she has not seen Archie (left) since he was an infant
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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