The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have rejected Jeremy Clarkson’s apology over his column in The Sun newspaper in which he said he “hated” Meghan, and disputed that he wrote to both of them.
On Monday, the former Top Gear presenter shared a lengthy statement on Instagram claiming he had sent an email to both Meghan and Prince Harry on Christmas Day to say his language in the column had been “disgraceful” and he was “profoundly sorry”.
However, a statement issued by the couple’s spokesperson on Monday in response to Clarkson’s Instagram post, states that he only wrote to Prince Harry, not his wife.
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It goes on to question Clarkson’s excuse that he wrote the offending column in a “hurry” and addressed his “long standing pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories, and misogyny”.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.
Chris Jackson via Getty Images
Harry and Meghan’s spokesman said: “On December 25, 2022, Mr Clarkson wrote solely to Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex. The contents of his correspondence were marked Private and Confidential.
“While a new public apology has been issued today by Mr Clarkson, what remains to be addressed is his long standing pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories, and misogyny.
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“Unless each of his other pieces were also written “in a hurry”, as he states, it is clear that this is not an isolated incident shared in haste, but rather a series of articles shared in hate.”
In December, the presenter faced widespread backlash after the publication of the opinion piece in which he described how much he “hates” the Duchess of Sussex on a “cellular level”.
The TV star added that he dreams of the day “when [Meghan] is made to parade naked through the streets” while crowds “throw lumps of excrement at her”.
Jeremy Clarkson
Ian West – PA Images via Getty Images
In the days that followed, the column incited a record-breaking number of complaints to the press regulator Ipso, with The Sun eventually issuing an apology after removing the article from their website, at its author’s request.
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In his Instagram apology, Jeremy said: “Usually, I read what I’ve written to someone else before filing, but I was home alone on that fateful day, and in a hurry. So when I’d finished, I just pressed send. And then, when the column appeared the next day, the land mine exploded.”
He concluded: “I emailed Harry and Meghan in California to apologise to them too.
“I said I was baffled by what they had been saying on TV but that the language I’d used in my column was disgraceful and that I was profoundly sorry.
“Over the last thirty years, I have written very nearly five thousand newspaper and magazine columns, so it was inevitable that one day, I’d do a Harry Kane and sky one of the damn things. Which is what happened with the piece about Meghan.”
The Duke of Sussex brought up the column while discussing “accountability” during Prince Harry: The Interview, which aired earlier this month.
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Harry said: “Not only was what he said horrific, and is hurtful and cruel towards my wife, but it also encourages other people around the UK, and around the world – men particularly – to think that it’s acceptable to treat women that way.
“To use my stepmother’s words recently as well, there is a global pandemic of violence against women.”
He added: “It’s no longer a case of me asking for accountability, but at this point the world is asking for accountability, and the world is asking for some form of comment from the monarchy but the silence is deafening. To put it mildly.
“Everything to do with my wife, after six years, they haven’t said a single thing.”
The US star didn’t hold back in having a jokey dig at the headline makers of the last 12 months as she opened this year’s bash in Los Angeles.
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“It is an honour to be your host tonight after everything that we have all been through together over the past few years between Covid, monkeypox, the Don’t Worry Darling press tour,” Chelsea began. “It’s been a lot.”
Chelsea Handler speaks onstage during the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards.
Kevin Winter via Getty Images
“Niecy Nash-Betts is nominated for Dahmer,” Chelsea continued. “Dahmer became the third highest viewed show on Netflix, which a combined watch time of 1 billion hours, which, apparently, is the same amount of time we’re going to have to listen to Prince Harry talk about his frostbitten penis. Enough already.”
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Prince Harry’s mate James Corden wasn’t spared either, following his alleged behaviour towards waiting staff that saw him briefly banned from NYC restaurant Balthazar.
Acknowledging the cast of the restaurant-based dramedy The Bear, Chelsea said: “They showed us how gruelling and how absolutely miserable working in the restaurant industry can be, and they didn’t even have to wait on James Corden.”
Kevin Winter via Getty Images
She went on to take aim at another talk show host, Ellen DeGeneres, and the toxic workplace allegations by staffers on her former daytime show, although Chelsea didn’t go as far as naming Ellen.
“In the movie Tár, Cate [Blanchett] portrayed an iconic lesbian whose career is affected by her toxic behaviour. And she didn’t even have to host her own daytime talk show,” Chelsea told the audience.
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Jennifer Coolidge and Brendan Fraser were among the winners at Sunday night’s awards, which are often an indicator of success at the Academy Awards.
Prince Harry has given the world access to his own life like no royal ever has before – and not just through his new memoir Spare.
The Duke of Sussex has gone on a bombshell-filled media tour to promote his autobiography, from intense 90 minutes with ITV to a tequila-fuelled more light-hearted appearance on late night US TV.
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Here’s a round-up of some of the most insightful things the royal said.
Released: January 8
via Associated Press
Prince Harry, left, speaking during an interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby for the programme Harry: The Interview.
1. Harry accused some royals of ‘getting into bed with the devil’
“After many, many years of lies being told about me and my family, there comes a point where again, going back to the relationship between certain members of the family and the tabloid press, those certain members have decided to get into bed with the devil,” the Duke claimed.
“If you need to do that, or you want to do that, you choose to do that – well, that is a choice. That’s up to you.
“But the moment that rehabilitation comes at the detriment of others – me, other members of my family – then that’s where I draw the line.”
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2. Harry denies that he ever suggested the Royal Family was racist
When Bradby noted that the Duke of Sussex had “accused members of your family of racism” in the Winfrey interview, Harry pushed back.
“No, I didn’t. The British press said that,” Harry said. “Did Meghan ever mention that they’re racist?”
Bradby mentioned Meghan’s revelation that “there were troubling comments about Archie’s skin colour”.
“There was concern about his skin colour,” Harry replied.
“Right. Wouldn’t you describe that as essentially racist?” Bradby followed up.
“I wouldn’t,” Harry said. “Not having lived within that family.”
“The difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different,” he continued. “But once it’s been acknowledged, or pointed out to you as an individual, or as an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you therefore have an opportunity to learn and grow from that in order so that you are part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Otherwise, unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism.”
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3. Harry wants Charles and William ‘back’
Harry says he wants “a family, not an institution”, and says “they’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile”.
He also talks about King Charles and Prince William. “I would like to get my father back,” he says. “I would like to have my brother back.”
But, Harry added, “At the moment, I don’t recognise them,” he said of his father and brother, noting: “As much as they probably don’t recognise me.”
4. William ordered Harry to shave his beard off for his wedding
The Duke revealed that his older sibling had ordered him to go clean shaven for his 2018 wedding.
He explained: “I think there’s a level of competition there. I remembered that William had a beard himself and that Granny, and other people, the ones to tell him – told him that he had to shave it off.”
He said the difference was that the beard was “a shield to my anxiety” – but that he thought William still “found it hard that other people told him to shave it off”.
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5. Harry and Meghan ‘love’ Lady Susan Hussey
Hussey, a former royal aide, was criticised last year for making racist comments towards charity boss Ngozi Fulani at the Palace, and subsequently stepped down.
Harry touched on the incident in his interview and said he was “very happy” that the Palace had organised a reconciliatory meeting between the two parties, as he and Meghan “love Susan Hussey”.
He added: “And I also know that what she meant – she never meant any hard at all. But the response from the British press, and from people online because of the stories that they wrote was horrendous.”
He said he and Meghan had only ever wanted the same kind of “accountability” from the royals – but pointed out the Palace had not even introduced the diversity tsar they had promised to back in 2021.
“I’ve always been open to wanting to help them understand their part in it, and especially when you are the monarchy – you have a responsibility, and quite rightly people hold you to a higher standard than others.”
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6. Harry’s fury over Jeremy Clarkson’s column – and the Palace’s inaction
Clarkson faced a widespread backlash in December when he wrote in an opinion column for The Sun that he “hates” the Duchess of Sussex on a “cellular level”.
Speaking to ITV, the Duke of Sussex brought up the piece of his own accord while discussing “accountability”.
Harry said: “Not only was what he said horrific, and is hurtful and cruel towards my wife, but it also encourages other people around the UK, and around the world – men particularly – to think that it’s acceptable to treat women that way.
“To use my stepmother’s words recently as well, there is a global pandemic of violence against women.”
He also said he was frustrated by the royals’ silence, while his wife continues to receive criticism from the press. He said: “The world is asking for some form of comment from the monarchy but the silence is deafening. To put it mildly.
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“Everything to do with my wife, after six years, they haven’t said a single thing.”
7. Harry defends writing about his family
On why now felt like the right time to write his memoir, Harry told Bradby: “38 years of having my story told by so many different people with intentional spin and distortion felt like a good time to own my story and be able to tell it for myself.
“You know, I don’t, I don’t think that if I was still part of the institution that I would have been given this chance to.
“So, I’m actually really grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to tell my story because it’s my story to tell.”
Asked what his brother would have to say after reading Spare, Harry continued: “He’d probably say all sorts of different things.
“But you know, for the last however many years, let’s just focus on the last six years, the level of planting and leaking from other members of the family means that in my mind they have written countless books – certainly millions of words have been dedicated to trying to trash my wife and myself to the point of where I had to leave my country.”
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8. Harry rejects claims he has burnt his bridges
Bradby put to Harry that he’d not so much “burned bridges” with his family as “taken a flamethrower to them”, although that’s now how the Duke saw it.
“Silence only allows the abuser to abuse. I’m not sure how honesty is burning bridges,” he replied.
9. Harry is still hopeful of a family reconciliation
“I genuinely believe, and I hope, that reconciliation between my family and us will have a ripple effect across the entire world,” he said. “Maybe that’s lofty, maybe that’s naïve, whatever. But I genuinely feel that.
“And knowing the monarchy as I know it from something that I was brought up in, for me it’s always been about uniting people.”
However, he added: “They’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile up until this point.”
10. Harry said the royals ‘stereotyped’ Meghan
Harry said William and Kate never got on with Meghan “from the get-go”, and that there was “a lot” of stereotyping her as a “divorced biracial American actress”.
Anderson Cooper: 60 Minutes, CBS
Released: January 8
CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images
Harry sat down with Anderson Cooper for the show, 60 Minutes
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11. Harry says he was ‘probably bigoted’ before meeting Meghan
The Duke was touching on the struggles many newcomers to the royal family face when he said: “What Meghan had to go through, in some part, was similar to what Kate and Camilla went through.”
However, he added that the women faced “very different circumstances”.
“But then you add in the race element, which was what the press – the British press – jumped on straightaway. I went into this incredibly naive.
“I had no idea the British press were so bigoted. How I was probably bigoted before the relationship with Meghan.”
“You think you were bigoted before the relationship with Meghan?” Cooper pressed.
“I don’t know,” Harry answered. “Put it this way – I didn’t see what I now see.”
12. Harry didn’t believe Diana was actually dead ‘for a long time’
He said for “many many years” he did not believe she had actually died, adding: “I refused to accept she was gone.”
13. Harry claimed again that Palace leak royal stories
Harry spoke about leaks to the press and the royal family’s motto of “never complain, never explain”, while claiming that some royal correspondents are “spoon-fed information” to write stories.
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“At the bottom of it, they will say that they’ve reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment. But the whole story is Buckingham Palace commenting,” he told Cooper. “So when we’re being told for the last six years, ‘We can’t put a statement out to protect you’ – but you do it for other members of the family. There becomes a point when silence is betrayal.”
14. He has no plans to return as a full-time member of the royal family
The Duke of Sussex also gave a firm “no” when Cooper asked in a separate clip if he would ever return as a full-time member of the royal family.
15. Harry admits he has not spoken to Camilla, Charles or William recently
Harry said that he and Camilla “haven’t spoken for a long time”.
Asked if he was texting William, Harry replied: “Currently, no. But I look forward to – I look forward to us being able to find peace.”
“How long has it been since you spoke?” Cooper said.
“A while,” the Duke of Sussex answered.
He gave a similar answer when asked about communication with his father. “We aren’t – we haven’t spoken for quite a while. Um, no, not recently.”
16. He gave a confusing depiction of his relationship with Camilla
Talking about her supposed closeness with the media, he said: “She was the villain. She was the third person in their marriage. She needed to rehabilitate her image.
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“That made her dangerous because of the connections she was forging within the British press. And there was open willingness on both sides to trade information.”
However, he also said: “I love every member of my family, despite the differences. So, when I see her, we’re perfectly pleasant with each other,” he said with a smile. “She’s my stepmother. I don’t look at her as an evil stepmother.”
“I see someone who has married into this institution and done everything that she can to improve her reputation and her own image, for her own sake,” he continued.
17. Harry says he and Meghan will apologise for any wrongdoing
When Cooper asked if the “rupture” between Harry and Meghan and the rest of the royal family could be healed, the Duke answered “absolutely”.
“The ball is very much in their court,” he explained. “Meghan and I have continued to say that we will openly apologise for anything that we did wrong, but every time we ask that question, no one’s telling us the specifics or anything. There needs to be a constructive conversation, one that can happen in private that doesn’t get leaked.”
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18. The Duke dismissed the idea of giving up royal titles
“Why not renounce your titles as Duke and Duchess?” Cooper also asked Harry directly.
“And what difference would that make?” Harry retorted.
19. Harry was not invited to share the plane which took royals to see Queen before her death
Harry arrived several hours after his relatives in Scotland, where the Queen died, despite also being in the south of England when his family left to see the dying matriarch.
He claimed: “I asked my brother – I said, ‘What are your plans? How are you and Kate getting up there?’ And then, a couple of hours later, you know, all of the family members that live within the Windsor and Ascot area were jumping on a plane together, a plane with 12, 14, maybe 16 seats.
“I was not invited.”
Prince Harry: In His Own Words with Michael Strahan, ABC
Released: January 9
via Associated Press
Prince Harry during an interview with “Good Morning America” co-host Michael Strahan in Los Angeles.
20. Queen was not angry about him leaving royal life
The Queen never told Harry she was angry about him changing role, according to the royal.
He said he thought she was “sad” about it, but “it was never a surprise to anybody, least of all to her”.
“She knew what was going on. She knew how hard it was. She never said to me that she was angry. I think she was sad that it got to that point.”
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21. Diana would be ‘heartbroken’ if she knew about the brothers’ rift
“I think she would be heartbroken about the fact that William, his office were part of these [negative] stories,” he said. “I think she’d be looking at it long-term to know that there are certain things that we need to go through to be able to heal the relationship.”
22. Harry admitted partial responsibility to relationship breakdown with William
Strahan asked if Harry had any responsibility for the breakdown of the relationship with his brother. The Duke of Sussex replied: “Without question, I’m sure.”
“But what people don’t know is the efforts I’ve gone to to resolve this privately,” he continued. “Both with my brother and with my father.”
23. Harry refutes the idea that the book would make rift worse
“I thought about it long and hard, and as far as I see it the divide couldn’t be greater before this book.”
23. Harry’s not ‘angry any more’
The royal said: “I am exactly where I am supposed to be.” But he admitted that not reconciling with his family would be “very sad”.
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If that were the case, Harry said, he would focus on his life and family in California.
24. Sussexes would support the Commonwealth
Harry ruled out the possibility of returning to the UK as a working royal, explaining: “Even if there was an agreement or an arrangement between me and my family, there is that third party that is going to do everything they can to make sure that that isn’t possible.”
That was presumably an allusion to the UK press.
He added: “If there was something in the future where we can continue to support the Commonwealth, then that’s of course on the table.”
He also revealed that he made a “hybrid” proposal for Sussexes to split time between Canada and UK but there was no compromise. He said this was “really sad because I still to this day believe that this was entirely possible”.
25. Harry said he was speaking out to help protect other royal children
He said his role in the line of succession was “used against me for a long part of my life”, and that he worries about other “young kids” still in the institution.
“There are some people, especially in the UK, who have been led to believe that because you are a member of the royal family, somehow everyone owns you or has a stake in you,” he said.
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“And that’s a message that has been purely pushed out by the British tabloids, and it creates real problems within that family and that relationship.”
Harry added: “Of course, there has to be some sort of relationship, but where it’s got too now is incredibly unhealthy.”
He said he hoped he could help future generations. “I also worry about other young kids within that family if this continues,” he said.
26. Harry refuted claims he sees Camilla as ‘evil stepmother’
He said: “I love every member of my family… so when I see her we’re perfectly pleasant with each other.
“She’s my stepmother. I don’t see her as an evil stepmother, I think she’s someone who married into this institution and done everything she can to improve her own reputation, her own image, for her own sake.”
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27. Harry rejected hypocrisy claims
Strahan pointed out: “There are going to be people who say ‘Why don’t they either be in or get out, because if you get out there’s no hypocrisy’.”
Harry said: “I can’t ever get out and I’m incredibly aware of my position.
“I’m incredibly grateful for the life that I’ve had and continue to live.
“But there’s no version of me being ever able to get out of this. I was stunned that my family would allow security to be taken away, especially at the most vulnerable point for us.”
He added that writing the book was his only way to protect his family by correcting mistruths: “I fully accept that writing a book is feeding the beast anyway.”
28. Harry ‘genuinely’ believes in the monarchy still
But, he called for it to be reformed and modernised, saying: “I think the same process that I went through regarding my own unconscious bias would be hugely beneficial to them.
“It’s not racism, but unconscious bias if not confronted, if not acknowledged, if not learned and grown from, that can then move into racism.”
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People magazine cover
Released: January 10
29. Diana is his ‘guardian angel’
“I struggled for years to accept or even speak about my mother’s death. I was unable to process that she was gone. I’m not sure anyone can ever truly have closure when they lose a parent, or anyone for that matter, especially when that grief may be the only thing left of them,” he told People.
“The healing process has allowed me to get to a place where I now feel the presence of my mum more than ever before. She’s with me all the time – my guardian angel.”
30. He wants his kids to have a relationship with the royals
“I’ve said before that I’ve wanted a family, not an institution – so of course, I would love nothing more than for our children to have relationships with members of my family, and they do with some, which brings me great joy,” he said.
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, CBS
Released: January 10
via Associated Press
Harry with host Stephen Colbert during a taping of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert”.
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31. Prince Harry blasts ‘dangerous lie’ he ‘boasted’ about Taliban killings
Harry slammed reports that he “somehow boasted about the number of people that I killed in Afghanistan” and called it “the most dangerous lie”.
“If I heard anyone boasting about that kind of thing, I would be angry. But it’s a lie. And hopefully now that the book is out, people will be able to see the context. It’s really troubling and very disturbing that they can get away with it. They had the context. It wasn’t like, ‘Here’s just one line.’”
Harry told Colbert that “the reason why I decided to share this in my book” was to “reduce the number of suicides” in the soldier and veteran communities.
Harry claimed this was a dangerous lie because it makes you “an increased target”, alleging this was a “choice” the media made.
32. Harry ‘fact-checks’ The Crown
The royal confirmed that he watched both “the older stuff and the more recent stuff” aired on the dramatised Netflix series.
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Asked if he did any fact-checking, he said: “Yes, I do, actually. Which, by the way, is another reason why it’s so important that history has it right.”
33. Harry believes royals are trying to ‘undermine’ his book
Colbert asked Harry if he believed there was an “active campaign by the rest of your family, by the royal house…to undermine this book”.
The royal replied: “Of course, mainly by the British press.”
Colbert pushed the question again, this time adding if the UK media was “aided and abetted by the Palace”.
He said: “Yes, again, of course. This is the other side of the story, right?
“After 38 years, they have told their side of the story. This is the other side of the story, and there’s a lot in there that, perhaps, makes people feel uncomfortable and scared.”
34. If Diana were still alive, he and William would be in a different place
Harry claimed that if his mother were still alive, his relationship with his brother would be different.
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He said: “It’s impossible to say where we would be now, where those relationships would be now, but there is no way that the distance between my brother and I would be the same.”
In the 2021 interview, Meghan said members of the royal family had “concerns and conversations” when she was pregnant with her son, Archie, about how dark his skin would be ― a claim that was widely understood and reported as an allegation of racism and prompted global uproar.
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In an interview that aired on UK television Sunday, Harry denied that was the implication. When ITV’s Tom Bradby noted that the Duke of Sussex had “accused members of your family of racism” in the Winfrey interview, Harry pushed back.
“No, I didn’t. The British press said that,” Harry said. “Did Meghan ever mention that they’re racist?”
Bradby mentioned Meghan’s revelation that “there were troubling comments about Archie’s skin colour.”
“There was concern about his skin colour,” Harry replied.
“Right. Wouldn’t you describe that as essentially racist?” Bradby followed up.
“I wouldn’t,” Harry said. “Not having lived within that family.”
“The difference between racism and unconscious bias, the two things are different,” he continued. “But once it’s been acknowledged, or pointed out to you as an individual, or as an institution, that you have unconscious bias, you therefore have an opportunity to learn and grow from that in order so that you are part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Otherwise, unconscious bias then moves into the category of racism.”
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The Sussexes have declined to name the members of the royal family involved in the conversations about Archie’s skin, though the couple clarified after the interview that the comments were not made by Queen Elizabeth or Prince Philip.
Prince William responded to the claims by saying that the royals are “very much not a racist family,” while Buckingham Palace issued a statement after the interview saying that “the issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning” and would be “addressed by the family privately.”
Amid ongoing backlash at the time, royal sources told media the palace was considering appointing a diversity tsar as part of an effort to modernise the monarchy.
The Duke of Sussex spoke to ITV’s Tom Bradby in an interview that aired two days before the official publication of his autobiography, “Spare.”
Jane Barlow – PA Images via Getty Images
While Harry defended his family in Sunday’s interview, he also called out the royal institution for its failure to take the opportunity for change, noting that no diversity tsar materialized.
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“Everything they said was gonna happen hasn’t happened. I’ve always been open to wanting to help them understand their part in it, and especially when you are the monarchy ― you have a responsibility and quite rightly people hold you to a higher standard than others,” he said.
He pointed to a recent racist incident as a “very good example of the environment within the institution.” In December, a royal aide who had served for decades as the late Queen Elizabeth’s lady in waiting, Lady Susan Hussey, apologised and resigned after she was called out for repeatedly asking Black charity founder Ngozi Fulani where she “really came from” during a palace reception.
Later in the interview, however, Harry defended Lady Hussey and insisted she meant no harm.
“All we’ve ever asked for in the last … few years is some accountability [from the monarchy],” he said. “And I’m very happy for Ngozi Fulani to be invited into the Palace to sit down with Lady Susan Hussey to reconcile because Meghan and I love Susan Hussey. She thinks she’s great.”
“And I also know that what she meant – she never meant any harm at all, but the response from the British press and from people online because of the stories that they wrote was horrendous. Was absolutely horrendous the response.”
Harry has given a series of interviews as part of a media blitz to promote his new memoir, “Spare,” which accidentally went on sale in Spain several days before its official Jan. 10 publication date.
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More bombshells from Prince Harry’s leaked memoir, “Spare”:
Britain’s ex-head of counter terrorism has revealed that police investigated multiple “disgusting and very real” threats against Meghan Markle.
The outgoing Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner, Neil Basu, said the danger posed to the Duchess of Sussex would have left her feeling “under threat all of the time”.
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Basu confirmed the threats came from the far right and they had led to prosecutions.
The comments throw new light on Prince Harry’s frustration over a decision not to allow him to pay for police protection for himself and his family when in the UK.
The Duke of Sussex, who quit as a senior working royal in 2020, won the right to challenge the Home Office in the High Court after being told he would no longer be given the “same degree” of personal protective security when visiting.
He continued: “I’ve talked publicly for many years about the threat of extreme right-wing terrorism in this country.”
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Asked if there were serious and credible threats from the far right directed at Meghan, he replied: “Absolutely. If you’d seen the stuff that was written and you were receiving it, the kind of rhetoric that’s online, if you don’t know what I know, you would feel under threat all of the time.”
Asked if there had been genuine threats to Meghan’s life, he replied: “Absolutely. We had teams investigating it. People have been prosecuted for those threats.”
“There were many serious, credible threats against Meghan Markle emanating from the far-right?”
“Absolutely.”
Former head of counter terrorism for the Met Police, Neil Basu, tells @cathynewman about the “disgusting and very real” threats Prince Harry and Meghan Markle faced. pic.twitter.com/JPqfBFaCDO
The Sussexes personally fund a private protection team in the US for their family.
Harry told Oprah Winfrey the couple have signed multimillion-pound deals with Netflix and Spotify to pay for the security.
But he and Meghan lost their taxpayer-funded police protection in the UK in the aftermath of quitting as senior working royals.
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Speaking to Winfrey during the couple’s sit-down interview in 2021, Harry said he was told that “due to our change of status – we would no longer be ‘official’ members of the royal family”.
He said he had been shocked by this and “pushed back” on the issue, arguing that there had been no change of threat or risk to the couple.
Meghan, during the same interview, told how she had written to her husband’s family urging them not to “pull his security”, but had been told “it’s just not possible”.
The couple have offered to pay for police protection in the UK themselves, rather than ask taxpayers to foot the bill, his legal representative has said.
In September 2021, he filed a claim for a judicial review against the Home Office decision not to allow him to personally pay for police protection for himself and his family while in the UK.
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A government spokesperson said at the time: “The UK government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on those arrangements. To do so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.
“It would also not be appropriate to comment on the detail of any legal proceedings.”
Princes William and Harry mounted a vigil for their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Hall on Saturday evening, reuniting in public for a third time since the monarch’s passing last week.
They were joined by the Queen’s other grandchildren, notably including Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Lady Louise Windsor and Zara Tindall.
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They are now among the first women ever to join a royal vigil, along with Princess Anne, the Princess Royal who participated in the vigil of the princes on Friday evening.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, appeared in military uniform for the first time in nearly three years after Buckingham Palace granted him a special exception to don a uniform for the occasion. The prince lost his military titles in 2020 when him and his wife, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, stopped being senior working royals and moved to California.
Buckingham Palace reportedly granted the exception to Harry after substantial public backlash, with critics pointing out the same exception had been given to Prince Andrew. He was stripped of his military titles and royal patronages following his catastrophic interview with BBC Newsnight about his friendship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein back in 2019.
On Friday evening, Andrew appeared in military uniform to participate in the vigil of the princes lead by King Charles III.
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Both Harry and Andrew were conspicuously dressed in dark morning suits earlier in the week as they – along with their siblings in military uniform – marched behind the Queen’s coffin as it was taken from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.
For many, watching Princes William and Harry march behind a coffin brought back heartbreaking memories of 1997, when the two young princes were pictured walking behind the coffin of their mother, Princess Diana. Prince William himself later admitted that it brought back memories of Diana’s funeral.
Since the Queen’s death over a week ago, the royal brothers, rarely seen in public since 2020, have appeared together a few times as they reunite for their grandmother’s funeral ceremonies.
The royal brothers are expected to be seen together again for the Queen’s funeral next week.
The Queen will be lying-in-state at Westminster Hall until her funeral on September 19th, which has been declared a bank holiday. Mourners from around the country have been queueing to visit the Queen’s coffin since Wednesday. The queue itself has spawned rolling coverage and memes, becoming an historic event in its own right.
King Charles III, accompanied by his three siblings – Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward – took part in the vigil of the princes this evening at Westminster Hall.
The 15-minute long ceremony involved Queen Elizabeth II’s four children standing guard around her coffin at Westminster Hall where the Queen has been lying-in-state since Wednesday evening.
Notably, all four were in military uniform, including Prince Andrew who reportedly received a special exception to allow him to wear his for the vigil. Earlier in the week, he wore a morning suit while marching behind his mother’s coffin, reflecting the fact that he was stripped of all his military titles and royal patronages back in 2019.
Prince Harry, who will participate in a vigil with the Queen’s other grandchildren on Saturday evening, will also appear in military uniform after receiving an exception from Buckingham Palace. He too wore a suit earlier in the week while his brother, Prince William, was in military uniform as they accompanied the Queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall. Prince Harry lost his military titles in 2020 after giving up his senior royal status and moving to California with his wife, Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex.
The Queen will remain lying-in-state until her funeral on September 19th, which has been declared a bank holiday. Hundreds of thousands of mourners have been queueing to visit Westminster Hall and see the monarch lying-in-state since Wednesday. The queue itself has spawned rolling coverage and memes, becoming an historic event in its own right.
Prince William and Prince Harry gathered outside Windsor Castle with their partners in an unexpected show of unity following the death of their grandmother, the Queen.
The new Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, greeted mourners and well-wishers together late Saturday afternoon, as they looked at the many floral tributes left by the public.
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All four royals were dressed in black as they walked along the gates of Windsor Castle.
After arriving at the same time, the couples walked along separately, with William and Kate speaking to people on one side of the crowd and Harry and Meghan speaking to people on the other side.
William and Harry, who are thought to have experienced a rift in recent years, also joined forces in July 2021 to unveil a statue marking what would have been the 60th birthday of their late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
On the walkabout in the Windsor grounds on Saturday, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex held hands as they looked at the tributes, with Harry at one point affectionately putting his hand on his wife’s back.
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The new Prince and Princess of Wales were given bunches of flowers by members of the crowd as one visitor waved a Welsh flag.
William was also seen lightly touching Kate’s back at one moment as she crouched down to speak to a child at the front of the gates.
At one moment, he was also given a small Paddington Bear.
The royal couples look at the piles of floral tributes lining the road in Windsor.
Kirsty O’Connor via PA Wire/PA Images
It was the Cambridges’ first public appearance together since they were announced as Prince and Princess of Wales by King Charles III on Friday, and the first time both women have appeared in public since the Queen’s death.
Princes William and Harry both travelled to Balmoral on Thursday to be at their grandmother’s bedside, but neither of their wives joined them in Scotland.
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On Saturday morning, Prince William, alongside Camilla, Queen Consort, was a witness to the formal proclamation of his father’s accession to the throne.
Earlier on Saturday, the first heir to the throne also issued a deeply personal statement speaking of the loss of the Queen – his “Grannie” – and what she meant to him and his family.
“So much will be said in the days ahead about the meaning of her historic reign. I, however, have lost a grandmother,” he said.
“She was by my side at my happiest moment. And she was by my side during the saddest days of my life.”
Wellwishers and the media were surprised to see the royal couples together.
But according to the PA news agency, a royal source said the new Prince of Wales asked his brother and his wife to join them in viewing the tributes.
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The source said: “The Prince of Wales invited the Duke and Duchess to join him and the Princess of Wales earlier.”
Prince Harry is working on a memoir that will cover his life as a member of the Royal Family and marriage to Meghan Markle.
On Monday, it was reported that the Duke of Sussex was collaborating with the novelist J. R. Moehringer on a book about his life in the public eye.
The publisher Penguin Random House said of the venture (via Page Six): “In an intimate and heartfelt memoir from one of the most fascinating and influential global figures of our time, Prince Harry will share, for the very first time, the definitive account of the experiences, adventures, losses, and life lessons that have helped shape him.”
They added that the memoir will span “from childhood to the present day”, “including his dedication to service, the military duty that twice took him to the frontlines of Afghanistan, and the joy he has found in being a husband and father”.
PETER NICHOLLS via Getty ImagesPrince Harry pictured in March 2020
According to Page Six, a manuscript from Prince Harry was expected next month, but this has been pushed back to October due to his hectic schedule.
The book’s release is scheduled “for late 2022”.
Breaking news! Random House is honored to announce a forthcoming memoir by Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, to be published globally in late 2022. pic.twitter.com/NUzXwntuKq
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have welcomed their second child, a baby girl. The new baby, born in California, is the Queen’s 11th great-grandchild and Prince Charles’ fifth grandchild.
“It is with great joy that Prince Harry and Meghan, The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, welcome their daughter Lilibet ‘Lili’ Diana Mountbatten-Windsor, to the world. Lili was born on Friday, June 4 at 11:40 am in the trusted care of doctors and staff at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara,” a spokesperson for the Sussexes said in a statement to HuffPost.
“She weighed 7 lbs 11 oz. Both mother and child are healthy and well, and settling in at home. Lili is named after her great-grandmother, Her Majesty The Queen, whose family nickname is Lilibet,” the statement continues. “Her middle name, Diana, was chosen to honor her beloved late grandmother, The Princess of Wales.”
“This is the second child for the couple, who also have a two-year-old son named Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. The Duke and Duchess thank you for your warm wishes and prayers as they enjoy this special time as a family.”
Lilibet was first used when Princess Elizabeth was just a toddler and unable to pronounce her own name properly. Her grandfather King George V would affectionately call her ‘Lilibet’ imitating her own attempts to say Elizabeth.
archewell.comThe official statement from Meghan and Harry published on the Archewell website.
The Duke of Edinburgh also referred to his wife as Lilibet, writing to his mother in law after their wedding: “Lilibet is the only ‘thing’ in the world which is absolutely real to me.”
Lili’s middle name Diana honours Harry’s later mother Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a car crash in 1997 when Harry was just 12. Lili has been born almost a month before the princess would have celebrated her 60th birthday on July 1.
Lili’s cousin Princess Charlotte also has Diana as one of her middle names, as well as Elizabeth. She is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.
Anyone wishing to send a present to Meghan and Harry is asked to support organisations working for women and girls.
A message on the Archewell website reads: “For those inquiring on sending gifts, we would ask that you support or learn more about these organisations working for women and girls: Girls Inc., Harvest Home, CAMFED or Myna Mahila Foundation.”
The couple announced on Valentine’s Day that they were expecting their second child in a heartwarming post on social media.
“We can confirm that Archie is going to be a big brother. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are overjoyed to be expecting their second child,” a spokesperson for the couple told HuffPost in a shared statement at the time.
MISAN HARRIMANA photo of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex that accompanied the couple’s pregnancy announcement on Valentine’s Day.
Archie, who turned two in May, is seventh in line to the throne, though he does not have a title. Meghan and Harry’s daughter will be eighth in line to the throne, ahead of Prince Andrew in ninth.
While it was previously thought that the couple didn’t want to give Archie a title, Meghan told Oprah Winfrey that the royals actually made the decision ― which would mean Archie wouldn’t have royal security, either.
“He needs to be safe,” the duchess told Winfrey. “If you’re saying the title is what’s going to affect their protection — we haven’t created this monster machine around us, in terms of clickbait and tabloid fodder. You’ve [the Firm] allowed that to happen, which means our son needs to be safe.”
The Diana Award, established to continue the legacy of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, added their congratulations.
Congratulations to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex on the birth of their daughter Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
We extend our warmest wishes to The Duke, The Duchess and little Archie.
