Prince Harry won’t stay at a famous royal residence when he’s back in the U.K. to testify at the NGN trial. A royal insider told the Express that Harry likely chose a hotel over palatial luxury as a protest.
According to Express, Harry, who now lives in the U.S., is headed back to the U.K. in February for his trial against the British publisher, whose newspapers include The Sun and The Times. While he’s there, he won’t stay at Buckingham Palace even though reports say he’s been invited. Instead, sources say he’ll stay at a hotel, as he did in 2023 when the Duke of Sussex was back home in Britain, also for the NGN court case.
“We do know that Buckingham Palace was offered for the last visit and rejected in favour of a hotel,” royal observer Richard Fitzwilliams told Express. “Now, that’s never been explained. I don’t understand. It’s obviously part of a protest.”
Fitzwilliams did not specify where Harry had hotel reservations. “Who would have thought he’d prefer a hotel to Buckingham Palace?” Fitzwilliams added.
Safety is first and foremost on Harry’s mind
Harry lost the royal security afforded his relatives when he stepped back from royal life to move to North America with his wife Megan Markle. Fitzwilliams said on this trip, as he has before, Prince Harry will appeal the decision with the Home Office. As far as security, Harry tried that in February, but the British High Court turned him down.
Harry’s “case-by-case” security detail in the U.K. is ironic because multiple reports have said that he rarely visits Great Britain and won’t move his family back home because he feels unsafe. Security concerns also underscore the NGN court case, tabloid publishers, for illegal phone hacking and other invasions of privacy.
For Harry, the topic is especially pertinent because Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, died in a Paris car wreck in 1997, chased at high speeds by paparazzi. Royal insider Fitzwilliams added Harry’s mission is to clean up the British press.
Harry wants William to say “sorry”
Fitzwilliams did not clarify what Harry might be protesting by choosing a hotel over Buckingham Palace: that he no longer has guaranteed royal security every time he’s back home in the country, or possibly something else. Things have been tense between Harry and his royal relatives since Harry stepped down from duties in 2020.
In April last year, GB News reported that Harry won’t completely patch things up with his family unless his brother, Prince William, apologizes, but what William has to apologize for is unclear.
Former Senior Royal Gardener Jack Stooks told GB News, “Why should William apologise? What is he apologising for? This is one of the big questions about this. We’re hearing that this is from an old confidant, and yet nobody’s saying ‘oh, it’s actually this person’. But I do feel that there’s probably apologies needed from both sides.”
As Stooks points out, Harry decided to distance himself from his family. He also published Spare: Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex after he relocated to California, a royal tell-all memoir that is less than flattering for his relatives.
“We see that Harry decided to leave, Harry decided to write a book — everything is Harry, but there’s a lot more to it, and there is always more sides to the story … There’s so much more going on that none of us actually know,” Stooks explained.
Published: Jan 13, 2025 02:59 pm