The Duke of Sussex made a ‘pretty dark’ claim during a tell all interview to the BBC aired following his landmark Court of Appeals loss over his security entitlement claims
Prince Harry made an astonishing claim connected to the tragic death of his mother Princess Diana in his bombshell BBC interview released today.
In an extraordinary 30 minute interview following a judgement upholding the decision to strip him of permanent taxpayer funded security when in the UK, the Duke of Sussex revealed his father “won’t speak to me because of this security stuff.” After losing his case at the Court of Appeal today and now facing a £1.5million legal bill, Harry said he would not bring his family back to this country, even though he confessed: “I miss the UK”.
Harry said the King ‘won’t speak to me’(Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Emotional Harry launched another devastating broadside against the royal family, claiming Buckingham Palace attempted to force him and wife Meghan to stay within the institution by threatening them with losing their personal protection. Harry and Meghan in January 2020 blindsided the late Queen Elizabeth II by announcing on social media their intention to quit their roles as working royals, in a bid for “freedom” outside the palace walls.
The Duke lambasted the King’s decision to not involve himself with the situation leading him to feel “this is a good old fashioned establishment stitch up”.
After taking part in a devastating interview with Oprah Winfrey, releasing an eight part tell all series on Netflix with his wife and writing his explosive memoir, Harry claimed he has now forgiven his family and was seeking a resolution with them.
He said: “I would love reconciliation with my family. As I said, life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has, you know, he won’t speak to me because of this security stuff, but it would be nice to reconcile.”
Harry fought to have his automatic high level security returned to his family(Image: INSTAGRAM)
He later added: “If they don’t want that, that’s entirely up to them”. But the Duke was forced to admit “some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book”.
After leaving his role within the monarchy, the Duke in January 2023 released his bombshell memoir Spare – a reference to the phrase “heir and the spare” – with his brother William being the future King and Harry the second child, savaging his closest relatives.
The Duke, 40, labelled the King an “old man”, accused William of physically assaulting him and described his fears of Queen Camilla becoming a “wicked stepmother”.
Clearly crestfallen at the conclusion of his latest court battle, forlorn Harry revealed he would not take his case to the Supreme Court, saying: “there’s no point in continuing to fight anymore”.
He added: “I don’t want any battles to continue. There is way too much suffering and way too much conflict in the world. This, at the heart of it, is a family dispute.”
Prince Harry said a ‘family dispute’ lay at the heart of the issue(Image: Netflix)
Harry claimed he had never asked the King to intervene in the case, but said his “jaw hit the floor” when he discovered his father’s closest aides sat on the committee responsible for deciding his security arrangements.
He added: “We’ve lost the appeal, but the other side have won in keeping me unsafe”. Harry today directly appealed to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to reexamine the role of the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec), claiming the decision to remove his protection was taken unduly with specific involvement by the royal household.
Describing his feelings, he told the BBC: “Obviously, (I’m) pretty, pretty gutted about the decision. I was born into this position. It wasn’t a choice. I’ve served my country for 35 years. I believe that I am still continuing to serve my country.
Harry said he can’t see a world where he can bring his wife and children to the UK
“For the time being, it’s impossible for me to take my family back to the UK safely.” Harry said that he had returned to the UK four times since his decision to move to the United States in 2020, putting himself at risk to attend “funerals or court cases, and with the odd charitable function”, but added: “I can’t see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK at this point.”
Royal sources last night expressed dismay that Harry had “once again” given an interview criticising his family and the institution. One source said: “There continues to be complete exasperation felt by many.”
During the case heard at the High Court last year, Harry’s lawyer Shaheed Fatima KC said his “life was at stake”, citing that al Qaeda had recently called for him to be murdered.
In the interview with the BBC, despite earning tens of millions in corporate deals since leaving the royal family, Harry said “private security can only do so much”.
Harry said he wants to bring his children to the UK(Image: Netflix)
He also claimed reported figures of his taxpayer security amounting to £20million had been “grossly exaggerated by about 18/19 times”.
Without naming individuals, Harry made an astonishing claim connected to the tragic death of his mother, Princess Diana, who perished in a car crash in Paris in 1997, adding he had “discovered that some people want history to repeat itself, which is pretty dark”.
He also pointed to previous prime ministers being afforded protection for life after leaving office, adding that while he agreed with that process he should be treated equally for giving “35 years service to his country, two tours of Afghanistan, and the threats and risks to my life, I was born into this position.”
Harry said those rules were in place due to the “reputational impact of the UK if that person or those people are injured on UK soil. He added “but apparently, for me, that doesn’t matter….I have been singled out.”
Harry claimed to have ‘been singled out’(Image: Getty Images)
Harry also discussed his devastation that his children, Archie, five and Lilibet, three, would miss out the experiences of his “homeland” and relationships with the royal family.
He said: “The things that they’re going to miss is, well, everything, you know, I love my country, I always have done, despite what some people in that country have done.
“So, you know, I miss the UK. I miss parts of the UK. Of course I do, and I think that it’s really quite sad that I won’t be able to show you know, my children, my homeland.”
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson last night said: “All of these issues have been examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts, with the same conclusion reached on each occasion.”
Royal sources said it would have been constitutionally improper for His Majesty to intervene while this matter was being considered by the government and reviewed by the courts.
