Prince Harry today vowed he ‘will always be part of the Royal Family’ as he rejected a suggestion he was ‘not a working royal’ – insisting he was ‘born to do’ activism.
The Duke of Sussex said he enjoyed his work supporting people, as he was interviewed in Ukraine by ITV News.
After meeting staff from his mother Princess Diana’s flagship charity The Halo Trust, he called on world leaders to show ‘proper leadership’ to end wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. His remarks were interpreted as a barb aimed at Donald Trump.
Harry, 41, who stepped down as a frontline royal in 2020, declared that ‘we need to feel empowered to speak truth to power’.
Asked whether he felt the shackles were off, now that he was not a working royal, he said: ‘It’s bad enough in today’s world, feeling gagged and saying that you can’t say these things, and can’t say that.
‘Everything becomes political. I fundamentally disagree with that. What we are seeing is a humanitarian catastrophe in multiple parts of the world… and I would encourage more people to do the speaking up.’
The duke was then asked if he recognised the phrase ‘not a working royal’, and he replied: ‘No’, adding: ‘I will always be part of the Royal Family, and I’m here working and doing the very thing that I was born to do. And I enjoy doing it.’
Harry was visiting Ukraine in support of the work with the Halo Trust, clearing landmines almost 30 years after his mother Princess Diana’s trip to Angola in 1997.
Asked whether ongoing international conflict worries him as a father, Harry agreed and said: ‘The future does look bleak.’
He added: ‘Everybody is worried for what is potentially around the corner but also what is happening now… the vast majority of the global population want to see an end to these conflicts. Less conversation about war, more about peace’.
Prince Harry gives an interview to ITV News during his visit to Ukraine yesterday
Prince Harry today laid flowers at the grave of an unidentified Ukrainian soldier killed in battle
Harry told ITV reporter Chris Ship: ‘What would worry me is if we live in a world where anyone in my position can’t speak about the very things and the realities we are seeing, and hold those in leadership positions accountable.’
The interview follows comments from President Trump that Harry ‘is not speaking for the UK’, after the Duke told the US to honour its obligations in the Ukrainian conflict.
Responding to the earlier speech Harry made in Ukraine yesterday, Mr Trump told reporters last night: ‘I know one thing, Prince Harry is not speaking for the UK, that’s for sure. I think I am speaking for the UK more than Prince Harry.’
‘But I appreciate his advice very much,’ he added. Mr Trump went on to ask: ‘How’s he doing? How’s his wife? Please give her my regards.’
Harry delivered a lengthy, impassioned speech at the Kyiv Security Forum yesterday, saying he was ‘not here as a politician’ but as ‘a soldier who understands service’ and a ‘humanitarian’.
In a rare input on global matters, the King’s youngest son turned his attention to the US – although he did not mention Mr Trump by name – urging the ‘American leadership’ to ‘honour its international treaty obligations’ in its ‘enduring role in global security’.
Harry said: ‘The United States has a singular role in this story. Not only because of its power, but because when Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons, America was part of the assurance that Ukraine’s sovereignty and borders would be respected.
‘This is a moment for American leadership, a moment for America, to show that it can honour its international treaty obligations – not out of charity but out of its enduring role in global security and strategic stability.’
Harry’s unannounced visit – his third trip to Ukraine since the war began in 2022 – comes days after he finished a tour to Australia with his wife, Meghan Markle.
Harry stopped in the UK on his journey to Ukraine but only to transit through.
The King and Queen are due to travel to the US on Monday for a four-day visit during which they will meet Mr Trump.
The President has said the visit could ‘absolutely’ mend relations with the UK damaged over the Iran war.
