Royal Biographer Claims Prince Harry’s Nervousness at Prince Philip’s Funeral Didn’t Have to Do With Seeing the Royal Family
TL; DR:
- Prince Harry attended Prince Philip’s funeral on April 17, 2021.
- It marked his first appearance with the royal family since he and Meghan Markle’s Oprah interview aired in March 2021.
- According to royal biographer Tom Bower, Prince Harry seemed nervous because The Me You Can’t See was due out a month later.
- In The Me You Can’t See, Prince Harry accused the royal family of “total neglect.”
A royal biographer says Prince Harry’s apparent nervousness at Prince Philip’s funeral wasn’t what it might’ve seemed. In Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the War Between the Windsors, author Tom Bower credits the Duke of Sussex’s behavior not to seeing the royal family. Rather, he claims Harry had been nervous about The Me You Can’t See, which was set to air after the funeral.
Prince Harry traveled to England for Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021
The Duke of Sussex went to England after his grandfather’s death on April 9, 2021. He and a small group of royals attended a scaled-back funeral at Windsor Castle due to coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions.
Harry memorably walked with Prince William — with Peter Philips as a buffer — behind the Duke of Edinburgh’s Land Rover hearse. Following the procession, Harry went inside St. George’s Chapel, where his May 2018 royal wedding took place, for a 50-minute service.
Following Philip’s funeral service, cameras captured Harry talking to his brother and sister-in-law, Kate Middleton, outside of the church. Meanwhile, Meghan Markle, who was pregnant with Lilibet Diana Mountbatten-Windsor at the time, stayed home in Montecito, California.
So did Harry and Meghan’s son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. Although, the Duchess of Sussex and Archie reportedly spoke privately with Queen Elizabeth II before the funeral.
Royal biographer says Prince Harry apparent nerves were because of his forthcoming ‘The Me You Can’t See’ interview
In Revenge, Bower claims what might’ve looked like nerves due to reuniting with his family following the bombshell Oprah interview was because of another interview. In his book, which is due out in Britain on July 21, 2022, Bower says, according to excerpts in The Times, Harry’s behavior had to do with The Me You Can’t See.
“During that short procession many watched whether Harry signaled any regret towards his family. Some interpreted his sideways glance towards William as the outsider’s unease. No one grasped the truth about Harry’s nervousness,” Bower writes. “In four weeks’ time his Apple TV series about mental health would be broadcast. Transmission had been delayed until after the funeral.”
Harry teamed up with Oprah for the Apple TV original series on mental health. In it, he accused the royal family of “total neglect” when he and Meghan asked for assistance dealing with negative media coverage.
“I thought my family would help, but every single ask, request, warning, whatever it is, just got met with total silence, total neglect,” he told Oprah. “We spent four years trying to make it work. We did everything that we possibly could to stay there and carry on doing the role and doing the job. But Meghan was struggling.”
Royal biographer says Prince Harry knew his ‘damnation’ of royals would ‘widen the rift’
In his book, the royal biographer also claims Harry had been aware his Me You Can’t See interview would only worsen things with the royal family.
“Looking at his family standing in St George’s Chapel, Harry must have known that his damnation of them in the Apple TV series would widen the rift,” Bower writes.
“Only Harry’s expression defied accurate reporting. Flapping his order of service against his thighs as he left the chapel, he was clearly impatient,” he adds.
