Prince Harry vowed he ‘will always be part of the Royal Family’ today as he dismissed a suggestion he was not ‘a working royal’.
Six years after ‘Megxit’ when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex quit being frontline royals, he claimed he was ‘working and doing the very thing I was born to do’.
The duke added he enjoyed his work, supporting people, as he was interviewed in Ukraine by ITV News.
At the infamous ‘Sandringham Summit’ of January 2020, Queen Elizabeth banned the couple from operating as ‘half in, half out’ royals.
Last week, they conducted a pseudo-royal tour of Australia, and this week Harry has been visiting his mother Princess Diana’s flagship charity The Halo Trust in Ukraine.
After meeting Halo’s mine-clearing staff, the prince called on world leaders to show ‘proper leadership’ to end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
ITV News asked him if he felt emboldened to speak out, now that he was ‘not a working royal’, but Harry rejected the suggestion. Asked if he recognised the phrase ‘not a working royal’, Harry replied: ‘No. 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.’
Prince Harry speaking to ITV News during his visit to Ukraine
Prince Harry laid flowers at the grave of an unidentified Ukrainian soldier killed in battle
Harry, 41, told ITV reporter Chris Ship that ‘we need to feel empowered to speak truth to power’, adding: ‘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 prince 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.’
His remarks were interpreted as a barb at Donald Trump, given that yesterday he had given a speech at the Kyiv Security Forum urging the ‘American leadership’ to ‘honour its international treaty obligations’ in its ‘enduring role in global security’.
Although he did not name Mr Trump, the US President gave the duke both barrels in a typically blistering response. Just days before the high-stakes state visit to America by his father King Charles, Harry was told by President Trump: ‘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.’
He added mockingly: ‘But I appreciate his advice very much.’ Mr Trump, who said after Megxit that Harry needs a ‘lot of luck’ due to his marriage to Meghan, aimed another sarcastic dig at the duchess by saying: ‘How’s he doing? How’s his wife? Please give her my regards.’
In his lengthy, impassioned speech on Thursday, Harry said he was ‘not here as a politician’ but as ‘a soldier who understands service’ and a ‘humanitarian’.
He 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 also urged Vladimir Putin to ‘stop this war’ with Ukraine and accused the Russians of carrying out ‘mass killings and torture’.
Today, in his TV interview, Prince Harry was asked if he thought his remarks would have an impact on his father’s state visit, and he said: ‘No. Not at all.’
Speaking about the world ‘as a dad’, the duke said: ‘I think everybody’s scared, everybody’s worried for what is potentially around the corner. The vast majority of the global population want to see an end to these conflicts. The future does look bleak, but I think that hopefully, with the way that the world is reacting to the conflicts that are happening, we can see an end to these sooner rather than later.’
Harry’s unannounced visit – his third trip to Ukraine since the war began in 2022 – comes days after he finished the tour to Australia with his wife.
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.
