A heated row has broken out on a royal podcast, as experts discuss just how “disrespectful” Prince Harry was and if he had “changed” or if there were underlying problems lurking before Meghan Markle arrived on the scene.
Speaking on The Sun’s ‘Royal Exclusive’ podcast, royal photographer, Arthur Edwards, said: “When we were on the road with Harry, we never got that feeling that he hated the press then, he was very co-operative with the press. We used to go to the pub with him, and have a drink with him, and he was different then. Since he married Meghan, he changed.”
Royal author, Robert Jobson, however, disagreed, mentioning how “he was quite disrespectful at times” and referring to a time Harry put his handprint of paint on the photographer’s head, in jest, during a visit to a youth centre in Auckland in 2015.
Commenting on the moment in question, Mr Edwards said: “It’s because I’d gone on television that morning and said he was going bald, he was having his own back. That was fun. When we washed up together, we laughed about it.”
Robert then interrupted and questioned: “I don’t know…. I think he always had an issue.”
Interjecting on the heated debate, The Sun’s royal editor, Matt Wilkinson, said: “I think there’s always been a post-2016, Duchess of Sussex arriving on the scene, lots of problems that Harry has, have really come to the floor since then.”
It has been a difficult month for Prince Harry, who lost a lengthy legal battle with the Home Office following his security arrangements. The King’s youngest son, 40, sought to challenge the original decision by High Court judge Sir Peter Lane in February last year, which determined that the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) was right to remove his high-level police protection while he’s in the UK.
On May 2, Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Bean and Lord Justice Edis dismissed Harry’s appeal. Sir Geoffrey Vos summarised the decision and told the court that while the Duke of Sussex’s personal arguments were both “powerful and moving”, he concluded that: “I could not say that the Duke’s sense of grievance translated into a legal argument for the challenge to Ravec’s decision.”
He said: “The duke was in effect stepping in and out of the cohort of protection provided by Ravec. Outside the UK, he was outside the cohort, but when in the UK, his security would be considered as appropriate.”
The judge added: “It was impossible to say that this reasoning was illogical or inappropriate, indeed it seemed sensible.”
In an interview with the BBC in Harry’s hometown of California that followed, Harry explained he was “devastated” at losing the legal challenge. Harry added: “I would love reconciliation with my family. There’s no point continuing to fight any more, life is precious”. Harry also said the dispute over his security had “always been the sticking point”.
Buckingham Palace released a rare statement in response: “All of these issues have been examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts, with the same conclusion reached on each occasion.”
