Prince Harry unveiled his new post-royal statesman persona during his visit to New York City this week – but his efforts were “hijacked” by the latest drama surrounding his wife, Meghan Markle.
The Post was in the audience as the 40-year-old Duke of Sussex – who flew in from California by commercial jet and stayed at a hotel – was given a standing ovation at the Clinton Global Initiative summit Tuesday.
At the event he spoke passionately and eloquently about the dangers of social media for children.
“My lock screen is a picture of my kids. What’s on yours?” he said in an emotional moment as he talked of Prince Archie, 5, and Princess Lilibet, 3, while standing in front of a backdrop of photos of children who had died following online harassment.
“These children, and thousands more, meant the world to their families. The beautiful faces you see before you, their smiles, their dreams.” He added they were lost too soon “because of social media.”
We were with the renegade royal as he toured the Big Apple; talking about his hopes for the future and making fun of his troubled past. He also revealed how important it is for him to follow in his mother, Princess Diana’s footsteps, which always pulls at the heartstrings.
All in all, he proved yet again that he can be immensely likable and charming, when he wants to be.
But even though she was back at the couple’s California mansion, Harry’s wife made her presence known. The Sussex camp enrolled a cast list of staffers past and present to hit back after claims were again made that Megan, the Duchess of Sussex is, in fact, “Duchess Difficult”.
One political insider in NY for the UN General Assembly (UNGA) told us, “This totally hijacked any coverage Harry got…it was quite an own goal.”
It stems from a report in The Hollywood Reporter which cited a Sussex staffer who alleged, “Everyone’s terrified of Meghan. She belittles people, she doesn’t take advice. They’re both poor decision-makers, they change their minds frequently.
“Harry is a very, very charming person—no airs at all—but he’s very much an enabler. And she’s just terrible.”
Sussex sources quickly called the story “false” and told us both the Duke and Duchess were indeed upset by the piece
To counter it, former Archewell chief of staff Catherine St-Laurent told Us Weekly this week she has “remained close” with Harry and Markle since leaving the job.
While Josh Kettler — who quit his chief of staff position in August after working for the couple for only three months — said he was “warmly welcomed” by Harry, Markle and their Archewell team during his time there.
“They are dedicated and hardworking. It was impressive to witness,” he said.
Mandana Dayani, 42, who worked as Archewell’s president for 18 months until December 2022, meanwhile, spoke of the “kindness, mentorship and support” she has received from the Duke and Duchess.
Dayani also said she will “never forget” watching Markle, 43, sit on her kitchen floor cold-calling senators as she fed her daughter, Princess Lilibet, who was just five months old at the time.
She also reminisced about traveling to Uvalde, Texas, with Markle after 19 children and two teachers were killed in a mass school shooting in May 2022.
The activist said Markle spent hours with the victims’ families and went round the room ‘one-by-one’, where she ‘hugged and cried with them’.
The rather saccharine cover story prompted a courtier who worked for the Duke and Duchess during their time in the UK to tell the Daily Beast although the couple’s “bad moments” have been “amplified” compared to other royals since they quit the royal family in January 2020, “there definitely were bad, very bad, even psycho moments.”
“I witnessed people being chewed up in person and over the phone and made to feel like s–t,” the courtier added.
“But it was an incredibly fraught time and I’m inclined to give her [Markle] the benefit of the doubt. She has said herself she was suicidal at times.”
All of this, naturally, made the headlines rather than Harry talking about his eco travel business or charity work.
Sources told Page Six that, despite everything, this is the direction Harry wants to take; he wants to be seen as a statesman and philanthropist.
However, the political insider told Page Six he has some way to go before he can claim the kind of impact made by Hollywood stars such as Matt Damon and Jennifer Garner, with her kids charity ‘Once Upon a Farm’.
Sophia Bush also spoke at the Clinton event. She’s a well known humanitarian and launched her charity, ‘Pencils of Promise’, a 2008-founded nonprofit that has built more than 550 schools, largely in Ghana, Guatemala and Laos.
Damon, who created water.org, opened the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) summit with Hillary Clinton and revealed his charity is now reaching around 68million people.
The insider said, “Harry has got a long way to go to be remotely on the same level as Matt Damon.
“He’s not yet viewed as a statesman – or as a celebrity who has really made a huge philanthropic impact,” the insider added.
“He’s not like Jennifer Garner [or] Sophia Bush – those are real social impact activists.”
Behind the scenes, Harry did make some headway in his goals this week.
While waiting to go on stage at the CGI at the Hilton hotel in midtown, sources told us that he chatted with Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, beloved ecologist Dr. Jane Goodall, restaurateur José Andrés, Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya and Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of ex-Apple executive Steve Jobs, all of whom spoke in the same session as him.
However, none of that surely fascinating interaction was captured backstage because Harry’s team requested no cameras, we’re told, despite the fact there are usually in-house photographers in the CGI green room to capture intimate and fun moments.
“Why wouldn’t you want the Clinton foundation or any of those backstage people to promote your cause?” said one onlooker.
The night before his speech, we’re told Harry and his team took over the ballroom at the Hilton hotel in midtown, the home of the CGI summit, and rehearsed at length, making numerous tweaks and edits to his talk.
“He’s hands on and took it very seriously, I think he was nervous,” said another insider.
On Sunday night, Harry had dinner at Goals House, a private pop-up club at Tavern on the Green set up for UNGA week.
The dinner was hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighting, “Violence against children and its impact on mental health.”
The prince was not the most senior royal in attendance, as the event also played host to Queen Mathilde of Belgium, who was accompanied by the country’s outgoing Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo.
Harry and Mathilde were photographed greeting one another with a kiss on the cheek at the event.
He was spotted at Goals House again as well as Soho House in the Meatpacking District during his trip and he even found time to hang out with his pal Jimmy Fallon and record a skit for his show, where he launched a foul mouthed tirade while in a haunted house.
Harry also briefly raised eyebrows with a visit to a tattoo shop on Wednesday, but it turned out that was also part of a promotional video, rather than him getting inked.
His busy week also included interviewing two winners of the Diana Award, speaking at the HALO Trust and an event for the charity Lesotho at the UN, and celebrating the 5th anniversary of Travalyst, the environmental tourism initiative he founded in 2019, despite being a fan of private jets.
Before Harry left NYC on Thursday, his estranged brother, Prince William, also appeared via video message for a Bloomberg event to promote his Earthshot initiative.
Next week, Harry will be in London – again without his wife – but will not see his brother or father, King Charles, whom he also continues to have a strained relationship with, as he appears at a Well Child charity event.
“You’ll have to watch this space to see how far Harry can go,” said another political source who has worked with President Barack Obama, “If he can get his personal issues out of the tabloids, he might well achieve some big things.”
