Prince Harry in brutal comparison to ex-royal butler as ‘atrocious’ move condemned | Royal | News

Since their wedding seven years ago and their subsequent stepping down as senior working royals, Harry and Meghan have landed three seismic blows on the Royal Family: the interview on Oprah, the Netflix documentary series Harry & Meghan and Harry’s ill-timed memoir Spare, which was nonetheless a best seller.

They knew that the Palace could not reply in any detail to their accusations. The irony is that the only comment which is remembered is Queen Elizabeth’s deft retort “some recollections may vary”.

Harry’s reaction to the verdict of the Court of Appeal, when he lost the case where he argued for automatic police protection for himself and his family, was disastrous.

He does seem lost, not just when he recently wandered around a London street knocking on doors looking for a friend, which can be dangerous, but seeking a purpose other than promoting the Invictus Games and campaigning against the press.

He could have put out a statement which might have won him sympathy. We know he has been traumatised by his mother, Princess Diana’s tragic death and has undergone therapy. There are threats, such as al Qaeda, right wing extremists and also from the paparazzi.

On air Harry looked devastated. However, it was in atrocious taste for him to speculate on how long his father King Charles, who is battling cancer, had to live, especially as some might assume he had inside knowledge. To say, as he did, that he wanted “reconciliation”, but also revealing that his father wouldn’t speak to him, shows yet again that it is highly unwise to trust the Sussexes.

What is worrying for the royal family, is the way Harry attacked the “establishment stitch up”, which he claimed, makes it impossible for him and his family to visit Britain. He talked of the Royal Household and courtiers as malign forces which had worked against him, even to the extent of wishing him and his family harm.

He claimed security was used as a lever to try to prevent him and Meghan stepping down. These arguments were fantastical, there were echoes here of the royal butler, Paul Burrell, who became notorious for his unreliability, claiming Queen Elizabeth had told him “dark forces” were at work in Britain.

He was also confused about this father’s role in the decision to deny him security. After an interview as explosive as this, it is possible he might write another memoir, he made public that 400 pages were cut from Spare, apparently to spare his family grief, which was also obviously a threat.

Meghan too, has recently indicated she might write her life story. They might be tempted to do another documentary for Netflix to get a better contract when it comes up for renewal shortly, when they were last hired Netflix was releasing and promoting The Crown, which made them a valuable catch.

Harry received a huge setback, when he with others recently resigned from the board of the charity Sentebale, which he co- founded in Lesotho in 2006 in memory of his mother. His dealings with its Chair, Dr Sophie Chandauka was toxic.

The Charity Commission are investigating and we will hear a good deal more when they report. Harry is also a former President and a director of Africa Parks. The charity has admitted human rights abuses have been perpetrated by its rangers against members of the Baka tribe in the Republic of Congo.

The report has not been made public and there has been no statement from Harry, which there surely should have been. I doubt the Sussexes are much interested in their levels of support in Britain, but a new YouGov poll confirms that there is very little. More worryingly, there has been a decline in their popularity in the United States, possibly owing to the bullying allegations which have followed Meghan, since they surfaced prior to the Oprah interview and which she strongly denies.

She is making desperate attempts to become an influencer. The second series of With Love, Meghan, her cookery series, was filmed back to back, so the critical brickbats which descended on the first may well be repeated. It was so resistibly superficial.

Meghan’s lifestyle brand, As Ever, had chaotic beginnings. However, the first range of its products released has, reportedly, sold out. We now know that Meghan uses her HRH when contacting friends, which was embarrassing.

Her Confessions of a Female Founder podcasts for Lemonada Media have failed to get much traction, the idea seemed a good one but, as was clear with the cookery series, Meghan is obsessed with herself and this becomes profoundly irritating.

The Sussexes seem destined to struggle. The only reason there is a certain fascination with them is their royal links. That interest is still considerable and if they had genuine talents they would use them positively.

Harry was recently criticised for using a Deliveroo takeaway when at a friend’s house in Chelsea last May, despite his obsession with security. He isn’t terribly bright and if it wasn’t for the accident of royal birth, even if it made him a spare, he might have been the person delivering it!!