Claims Harry shouted at Queen are ‘untrue’
Rebuttal offered to author’s claim that Duke said ‘what the hell’ to his grandmother
Sources branded claims that the Duke of Sussex shouted at the Queen over a row about the Duchess’s wedding headwear as “completely ridiculous”. A source close to the Duke said an allegation that he said “what the hell” as he asked his grandmother to intervene in “tiaragate”, was “totally untrue”. In the first intervention since the publication of Finding Freedom, the source said: “The Queen is probably the person he respects and values most in the world.”
THE Duke of Sussex did not shout at the Queen over a row about the Duchess’s wedding tiara, sources have insisted, calling the latest round of claims arising from their biography “completely ridiculous”.
A source close to the Duke said an allegation that he used coarse language to his grandmother, saying “what the hell” as he asked her to intervene in what has become known as “tiaragate”, was “totally untrue”.
In the first intervention since the publication of Finding Freedom, by authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, the source close to the Sussexes said of Prince Harry: “The Queen is probably the person he respects and values most in the world.”
Until now, the Sussexes have not appeared to take issue with the contents of the biography, leading to speculation that they had cooperated and authorised their friends and staff to speak on their behalf. But the latest claims are understood to have caused particular consternation for involving the Queen.
Mr Scobie has now appeared on True Royalty TV to further publicise the book, claiming brothers Prince William and Harry did not speak for two months following the Sandringham Summit, that briefings from within the royal institution fuelled “racially-insensitive stereotypes” about the Duchess, and that a PA who left their employment was “very unpopular with the couple” but supported by the palace.
Describing a dispute over the Duchess’s wedding tiara, in which he accused the Queen’s personal dresser Angela Kelly of failing to accommodate suitable trial fittings, Mr Scobie said: “Harry had to intervene.
“He called his grandmother and said, ‘I don’t know what the hell is going on. But this woman needs to make this work for my future wife’.”
Following a newspaper report which described the incident as an “astonishing outburst”, a source close to the Duke said yesterday that “the suggestion he ‘yelled’ at his grandmother is totally untrue, and completely ridiculous, as is the suggestion that he said ‘what the hell’.”
Mr Scobie, speaking on The Royal Beat, also spoke of the Duke’s deteriorated relationship with his brother, saying it was the Sussexes’ decision to publish their statement about leaving the Royal family in January as the moment it “really went wrong”.
“That’s really what caused the most amount of hurt to William because he wears two hats,” he said.
“He’s not just the brother. He’s also a future king and he felt that that damaged the reputation of the family, that it put family business out in the public domain when it should have been discussed privately. And there was a lot of hurt there that continues to this day.”
He added: “It’s why we saw such an awkward moment at that Commonwealth service. “The brothers had not spoken since around the time of the Sandringham Summit. They hadn’t seen each other. And, you know, that’s really going to take some time to heal.”
The Sussex source said: “The family are in contact with each other – a suggestion they’re not talking is untrue.”
A spokesman for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex has previously said: “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were not interviewed and did not contribute to Finding Freedom.”