A week ago, Prince Harry arrived in Kyiv, Ukraine for an “unannounced” visit. He brought ITV’s Chris Ship to cover the two-day trip and Harry also seemed to engage with local media in Ukraine. The visit made news across the board and there were easily a dozen major headlines within 48 hours. One of those headlines was about Harry’s keynote speech at the Kyiv security conference, where he spoke about Vladimir Putin and the need for a more engaged and pro-Ukrainian leadership from America. Harry basically argued that NATO, the EU and the US should do a lot more to help Ukraine, more than four years after Russia’s invasion. The British media furiously sputtered about the speech, and one British reporter even asked Donald Trump about it. Trump didn’t even pour scorn on Harry, and Trump pissed off Brits by claiming that he (Bigly) speaks for Britain more than Harry.

The fascinating endnote to this silly faux-controversy is that King Charles, in his speech to Congress this week, cosigned everything his son said about Ukraine, NATO and the need for American leadership across the board. Weirdly, there was no angst or pearl-clutching about Charles’ speech. Well, going back to the original “controversy” of “Harry made a speech,” the Daily Mail’s cracked-out team of royalists is on the case. They pondered why their attempts to be loudly scandalized didn’t catch on. Their answer? Because the palace and the British government immediately stepped up and told everyone that Harry doesn’t speak for them?

On the latest episode of the Daily Mail’s Palace Confidential, Editor-at-Large Richard Kay reveals the behind-the-scenes government briefing that neutered the impact of Harry’s controversial Kyiv address and what it means for the Prince’s waning political influence as the King’s visit to the US gets underway.

Speaking to an audience of senior military and government officials in Ukraine last week, Harry criticised the US just days before his father was due to meet Trump as part of an historic state visit marking the 250th anniversary of American independence. The Prince told the Kyiv Security Forum that the US must honour its international treaty obligations to Ukraine, declaring that now is ‘a moment for American leadership.’

Trump’s response was dismissive, telling the White House press corps: ‘Prince Harry is not speaking for the UK, that’s for sure.’

Kay told Palace co-host Richard Eden that he was surprised Harry’s comments failed to generate a stronger reaction from Trump’s administration, before revealing that British diplomats had moved quickly to brief US officials that the Prince’s ‘very critical’ stance did not represent the position of His Majesty’s government.

He said: ‘We have discovered over the course of our brief stay in the US that British officials quickly told American senior officials that Harry’s view is not the British view. So, Harry can say whatever he likes, as he plainly did in Kyiv last week, but that does not represent the policy of the government. The forum in Ukraine was a set-piece event. Harry’s remarks were well-scripted. They were quite astonishing. It’s very interesting that it did not generate the kind of headlines that it may have done in the past. I think that’s a clear sign that the government is trying to push what he says to the margins.’

Eden agreed, saying Harry now faces a ‘dilemma’ every time he chooses to speak out on the world stage. As he drifts ever further from the Palace, his words carry increasingly less weight.

‘That message the government was pushing has clearly got through’, Eden declared. ‘It’s interesting for Harry. The whole point of the Royal Family is that they speak for us as a nation. So, when you are no longer a working Royal but are still trying to make a point, it begs the question: Who is he? What is he? What weight does it carry anymore?’

[From The Daily Mail]

I genuinely cannot believe how stupid these people are. “What weight does it carry anymore?” Well, you’re still f–king talking about it and royalists continue to amplify and cover every single thing that Harry does and says. Maybe that’s a big clue – Harry, like his mother, understands how to work the attention economy. He understands that his words and presence will shine a spotlight wherever he goes, regardless of his title, rank or status. What kills me is that Harry started his speech by emphasizing that he was not speaking for any government or anything, he was speaking for himself, as a veteran and philanthropist.

Besides all of that, it’s not like the Starmer government or Buckingham Palace really *wanted* to distance themselves from Harry or his message. Buckingham Palace barely said anything about Harry’s Ukrainian visit and now we know why – because King Charles doubled-down on Harry’s entire message when Charles spoke to Congress.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.