Prince Harry today insisted he ‘will always be part of the Royal Family’ and denied claims he is no longer a working royal, arguing he was ‘born to do’ activism work.
The Duke of Sussex also called on world leaders to show ‘proper leadership’ to end wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, interpreted as being aimed at Donald Trump.
Harry, 41, who stepped down as a working royal in 2020, told ITV News in an interview filmed in Ukraine that ‘we need to feel empowered to speak truth to power’.
Asked whether he felt the shackles were now off, 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.’
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
President Donald Trump during an event in the Oval Office at the White House yesterday
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’.
Prince Harry delivered a lengthy, impassioned speech at the Kyiv Security Forum yesterday
Prince Harry embraces a woman as he arrives at the railway station in Kyiv yesterday
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.
