Brush it off? Prince William and Duchess Kate were asked about Prince Harry’s recent comment about Queen Elizabeth II’s inner circle, but the couple didn’t seem to attach any importance to it.
The Duke, 39, and the Duchess of Cambridge, 40, dodged a reporter’s question as they left the Emergency Committee headquarters in London shortly after Harry, 37, gave an interview to today’s Hoda Kotb. William and Kate were walking silently to their car when a reporter shouted: “Sir, does the queen need protection?”
The awkward exchange followed a frank conversation between the Duke of Sussex at the 2022 Invictus Games, which were held in the Netherlands. While attending a sporting event, Harry spoke about how his life has changed two years after leaving the royal position, and spoke about his recent visit to the 96-year-old queen with his wife Meghan Markle.
“Being with her was great. It was so nice to see her,” the former military pilot said about his grandmother on the air on Wednesday, April 20. “She’s in great shape. …I’m just making sure she’s, you know, protected and surrounded by the right people.”
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge drop by the Disasters Emergency Committee headquarters in London to speak to aid workers on the ground in Ukraine via video link, with Prince William asking them to describe "where things are at". pic.twitter.com/BQMsfo1eSc
— The Royal Family Channel (@RoyalFamilyITNP) April 21, 2022
Harry noted that his relationship with the monarch is “really special,” adding: “We talk about things that she can’t talk about with anyone else.”
The private meeting marked the first time the Force Majeure graduate has returned to the UK since her last engagement to her husband as working members of the royal family in March 2020. Harry, for his part, briefly stayed in his native country for the funeral of the late Prince Philip. April 2021 and for the unveiling of the monument to Princess Diana a few months later.
When asked if he missed his family in England after moving to California with Meghan, Harry gave a cryptic answer. “Especially in the last two years, haven’t most people missed their family?” he told Kotb, adding that he feels at home on the West Coast. “We were welcomed with open arms and we have such a wonderful community in Santa Barbara, [California].”
The Archewell co-founder has apparently avoided discussing his tensions with William and Prince Charles, with whom he has not seen eye to eye over the past few years. After Harry’s quick trip to London, a source exclusively reported that the brothers were not reunited at the palace.
“It was pure coincidence,” an insider told us, explaining that William was on a ski trip when Harry was in town. “Harry will return to visit soon and hopes to see William in person. They’re trying to figure it out. …Harry and Meghan had a great time seeing the Queen again. It was one of the highlights of their year.”
When it comes to his relationship with 73-year—old Charles, their dynamics have improved a bit – and the future king may even want to work with the Sussex again someday. “We’ve already heard Charles say he wants to streamline the royal family, [to] modernize it,” royal writer Tom Quinn recently told us. “I think Meghan and Harry are hoping… Charles will be open to [their] part-time royals, which is what they wanted from the beginning.”
