Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell shared his own damning assessment of Prince Harry following the publication of a scathing article about the Sussexes
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have weathered a great many storms since stepping down from royal life. The couple’s popularity has taken a nose-dive in recent years and they continue to be estranged from the royal family – despite Harry’s recent attempts to reconcile.
Perhaps one of the lowest moments for the couple came in January when Vanity Fair released their scathing article on the Sussexes, titled ‘American Hustle’. The 8,000-word piece set out what life was like Â’Inside Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Big Business Ambitions, 5 Years After Their Royal Exit’.
It contained troubling claims about what it’s allegedly like to work for the Sussexes, complaints from their neighbours in Montecito, and the bombshell allegation that a member of Meghan’s team had reached out to a publishing house to “gauge interest” in a post-divorce book. The couple denied the claims.
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After the article sent shockwaves, former royal butler Paul Burrell shared his thoughts on the claims – and on Harry himself. Speaking on behalf of Prime Casino, Paul – who worked as Princess Diana’s butler from 1987 until her death in 1997 – said: “Vanity Fair is a prestigious title so to print such a damning article about Harry and Meghan is quite a precedent.”
He continued: “I know from firsthand experience how difficult Harry can be. I know how petulant he can be and how spoiled he is, because I’ve experienced that myself. He’s always lived in a bubble.”
Paul also lamented Harry’s new ‘celebrity’ persona. “Harry and Meghan have a very privileged lifestyle. Harry has always had that and Meghan has long aspired for it. But now they share that lifestyle,” he said.
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“I always circle back to the fact that Harry’s mother taught him long ago that the price for a privileged lifestyle is public service. Harry seems to have forgotten this lesson now he lives a celebrity Hollywood lifestyle that’s totally different from his royal one.”
It comes after another former royal butler disputed previous claims made by Harry about King Charles and Camilla’s wedding.
Having worked as a butler in Highgrove for seven years between 2004 and 2011, Grand Harrold got to know a different side of the royal family, and is now preparing to release his memoir.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Harrold queried Harry’s claims in Spare that he and his brother William begged their father not to get married. Harry wrote in his book Spare: “We support you, we said. We endorse Camilla, we said. ‘Just please don’t marry her. Just be together, Pa’.”
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However, despite Harry’s protestations in the book, Harrold recalled William and Harry decorating their father’s car with ‘Just Married’ signs with both of them racing after the car as the newlyweds drove away following their wedding reception.
And he says what he saw was a far cry from what Harry wrote in his memoir. The former royal staffer said: “The four of them, I promise you, got on so well. And that’s why I don’t understand what Harry’s said, I really don’t understand.
“Because I saw them. I saw them having dinners together, I saw them having drinks together, I saw them going to parties together.”
Harrold also recalled how William, his then-girlfriend Kate , and Prince Harry would spend a lot of time together during his time working at Highgrove, remarking especially on the close bond between Catherine and Harry.
“They involved him,” Harrold said. “He [Harry] used to go out with Kate. William would be away and Kate and Harry would be off doing stuff together. They’d go shopping together, they’d go to pubs together.
“I think when people say ‘oh he was left out’, he really wasn’t. But also he was with Chelsy [Davy, Harry’s former girlfriend]. Chelsy was always around. And Chelsy and Kate got on really well.”
