Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have faced countless obstacles since stepping away from their Royal responsibilities.
The couple’s public reputation has nosedived recently and they continue to be isolated from the Royal family – despite Harry’s recent attempts at reconciliation.
Perhaps one of the most devastating incidents for the duo happened in January when Vanity Fair released their scathing article about the Sussexes, titled ‘American Hustle’. The comprehensive 8,000-word investigation outlined what life was allegedly like ‘Inside Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Big Business Ambitions, 5 Years After Their Royal Exit’.
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It contained troubling claims about what it’s supposedly like being employed by the Sussexes, complaints from their Montecito neighbours, and the bombshell allegation that someone from Meghan’s team had approached a publishing house to “gauge interest” in a post-divorce book. The couple denied these claims.
After the article’s explosive fallout, former Royal aide Paul Burrell shared his thoughts on the accusations – and on Harry himself – describing the duke as ‘difficult, petulant and spoilt’. Speaking on behalf of Prime Casino, Paul – who worked as Princess Diana’s butler from 1987 until her death in 1997 – said: “Vanity Fair is a prestigious title so to print such a damning article about Harry and Meghan is quite a precedent,” reports Birmingham Live.
He added: “I know from firsthand experience how difficult Harry can be. I know how petulant he can be and how spoiled he is, because I’ve experienced that myself. He’s always lived in a bubble.”, reports the Mirror.
Paul also expressed his disappointment over Harry’s new ‘celebrity’ persona. “Harry and Meghan have a very privileged lifestyle. Harry has always had that and Meghan has long aspired for it. But now they share that lifestyle,” he said.
“I always circle back to the fact that Harry’s mother taught him long ago that the price for a privileged lifestyle is public service. Harry seems to have forgotten this lesson now he lives a celebrity Hollywood lifestyle that’s totally different from his royal one.”
This follows another former Royal butler disputing earlier assertions made by Harry regarding King Charles and Camilla’s nuptials.
After working as a butler at Highgrove for seven years from 2004 to 2011, Grant Harrold witnessed a different aspect of the Royal family, and is now set to publish his autobiography.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Harrold disputed Harry’s allegations in Spare that he and his brother William begged their father not to wed. Harry penned in his book Spare: “We support you, we said. We endorse Camilla, we said. ‘Just please don’t marry her. Just be together, Pa’.”
However, despite Harry’s complaints in the book, Harrold recalled William and Harry adorning their father’s motor with ‘Just Married’ signs with both princes running after the vehicle as the newly-weds departed following their wedding celebration.
The former Royal butler’s memories sharply differ from Prince Harry’s autobiography. He declared: “The four of them, I promise you, got on so well. And that’s why I don’t understand what Harry’s said, I really don’t understand.
“Because I saw them. I saw them having dinners together, I saw them having drinks together, I saw them going to parties together.”
Harrold also reflected on his time serving at Highgrove, where he witnessed the tight bond between William, his then-partner Kate, and Prince Harry.
“They involved him,” Harrold said. “He [Harry] used to go out with Kate. William would be away and Kate and Harry would be off doing stuff together. They’d go shopping together, they’d go to pubs together.
“I think when people say ‘oh he was left out’, he really wasn’t. But also he was with Chelsy [Davy, Harry’s former girlfriend]. Chelsy was always around. And Chelsy and Kate got on really well.”
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