A royal expert once revealed how she had a run-in she had with Prince Harry while he was a working royal after a seemingly simple question blew up into an angry exchange
Prince Harry (Image: PA)
A royal correspondent has revealed how a seemingly simple question led to her being on a the receiving end of an angry outburst from Prince Harry.
Back in 2019, while still working royals, both Harry and wife Meghan travelled to Southern Africa – a year after their showstopping tour to Australia and New Zealand shortly after their wedding. The trip saw them take son Prince Archie, then a baby, to to South Africa, with Harry also going solo to both Angola and Malawi. The tour proved somewhat of a turning point as it was later revealed the Sussexes had been mulling over their future on whether to remain inside the royal fold.
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Prince Harry’s angry outburst at Sky News royal correspondent Rhiannon Mills(Image: BBC)
Covering the tense trip was Sky News Royal Editor Rhiannon Mills, who was in Malawi with Harry and decided to ask him a question at the end of an engagement.
Mills had previously struck up a rapport with the Duke of Sussex after interviewing him for TV during his solo trip to New Zealand several years before. She told The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show that she decided, as he walked to his car, to ask him why it was important for him to come here – but was quickly given a short shrift.
She explained: “It was a terrible question. It was a rubbish question. I just sort of said, ‘oh, why is it so important for you to come here?’ And he looked at me and said, ‘oh, well, just go and ask those people over there’. And I probably inside thought, hang on a minute, I’m not gonna leave this one.
“I said, well, is that why it’s so important for you to come here? And then he turned around and just said, ‘Rhiannon, don’t behave like that’. And then got in his car and drove off. I felt like I’d looked like an idiot. He looked really patronising. Nobody came out of it looking good. Anyway, it all blew up with his team. They were livid.”
Harry and Meghan in Cape Town with Prince Archie (Image: WireImage)
After the exchange, Harry and the rest of the royal press pack travelled back to Johannesburg, where the couple dropped a bombshell statement that they were to launch legal proceedings against a UK newspaper. And Mills added: “Immediately I just realised, I frankly kicked the bear and I just didn’t realise it at the time.”
Shortly after the couple’s return to the UK after that trip, a documentary aired on ITV detailing their visit to Africa. In it, Harry talked about his rift with William for the first time, while new mum Meghan revealed nobody had asked her if she was OK.
Afterwards, it was revealed that Meghan and Harry would be taking several weeks off from royal duties, and they later spent Christmas 2019 in Canada.
Just weeks later, following the Sandringham Summit, it was revealed the pair would be stepping down as senior royals and they’ve since carved out a life for themselves and their children in the United States.
Last week, it was revealed that Mills is set to leave her role in front of the camera to become a senior media adviser to the King and Queen. She has been appointed media secretary at Buckingham Palace and is expected to begin the role some time before the summer.
The journalist has reported on the royal family for more than a decade, and her partner Andrew Parsons works as a photographer for the Prince and Princess of Wales. Mills has travelled the world with the royals – jetting off on tours to Japan, Africa, Nepal, India, Bhutan, Pakistan, the Middle East, New Zealand and Australia.
Speaking about Mills, a royal source referred to her “intelligence, quick thinking, good humour and wise judgment”, adding that she will bring “a wealth of broadcasting and digital storytelling experience, combined with deep knowledge of royal matters”.
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