Harry’s hoax call a pitfall of going solo – expert

THE Duke of Sussex’s prank phone call experience demonstrates the pitfalls Harry and the Duchess of Sussex will face operating outside the royal fold, a former press secretary to the Queen has warned.

Harry was duped into speaking about his decision to quit the Royal Family by Russian hoaxers posing as activist Greta Thunberg and her father.

Dickie Arbiter suggested the duke will have been left angry by the prank, which happened after he spoke on the landline of his rented mansion on Vancouver Island, Canada.

The royal expert told the PA news agency: “As long as Harry and Meghan are over there, they’re out of the protection of the system.

“If they were at Buckingham Palace, it wouldn’t have happened. They wouldn’t have got through the switchboard. They’re pretty vigilant.”

He added: “If you’re outside the system, you’re open to everything.”

During the two recorded phone calls, Harry told how he was “completely separate from the majority” of his family, The Sun revealed.

He also claimed that US President Donald Trump has “blood on his hands”.

Mr Arbiter said when Canadian DJ Pierre Brassard, pretending to be Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien, was put through to the Queen in 1995, the monarch was also in Canada.

Harry and Meghan have this week carried out their final official public duty as senior royals before they quit on March 31 to pursue a new life in North America.

Mr Arbiter suggested: “If it is Harry in the phone calls, I would think he will be feeling angry.”

But he added: “If you look at the other people who have been hoaxed, he’s in pretty good company.”

Singer Sir Elton John is among the celebrities who have been tricked by the same pranksters, said to be Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov.