When Prince Harry announced a string of engagements in Canada, his camp suggested both Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace had been informed in advance – but some have hit back at the claim
Prince Harry appears to have been dragged into fresh Palace controversy after claims over an awkward diary clash. Earlier this month, Harry’s office announced that he would be travelling to Canada for a string of engagements with veterans to mark the Remembrance period.
The announcement raised eyebrows as it came just minutes after his estranged brother kicked off his eagerly-waited first trip to Brazil to host his Earthshot Prize Awards in Rio de Janeiro. Not only that, the trip to Toronto also coincided with William making a high-profile appearance at the COP30 summit in Belem. At the time, a spokesman for the Duke of Sussex said that palace communications had been made aware of the upcoming tour.
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However, according to The Times, questions have now been asked as to whether the memo had been sent, as nobody had received one. A source told the publication it was “a bit rum” to say that the Palace had been informed and claimed neither Buckingham Palace nor Kensington Palace received any advance warning. The Mirror has contacted Prince Harry’s office for comment.
It comes after a source had previously said the timing of the announcement of Harry’s trip to Canada for Remembrance has been “unavoidable” after the awkward clash. In the past, there has been an unwritten rule for members of the Royal Family to delay major announcements when other royals are on tour.
But sources close to Harry said the timing of the announcement, at the exact moment Prince William arrived in Rio, was unavoidable due to Harry being stripped of his security when he left his role as a working member of the royal family.
The source claimed the period of time in which Harry and Meghan can release details of their events is much more truncated than it is for the King or William. They added that the Sussexes’ team was purely guided on advice given to them by their private security advisors.
Before Harry kicked off the trip, he also spoke of his love of “things that make us British” – despite not even living in the country. The Duke of Sussex penned a passionate essay ahead of Remembrance Day, where he expressed his pride at fighting for his country and warned how easy it is for veterans to be forgotten “once the uniform comes off”.
His thoughts were also released while William was in Brazil and on the day of his Earthshot Prize awards ceremony.
It is understood Harry’s words were released when they were to avoid drawing focus away from William’s major speech at the Cop30 climate talks in the Amazon the next day as well as other royal Remembrance-related events later that weekend.
Earlier this year, two of Harry’s close aides were seen meeting with the King’s director of communications – just weeks before the Duke had a long-awaited face-to-face reunion with his estranged father.
But after details of the meeting appeared in a report, Harry’s team claimed people were trying to ‘sabotage’ his reconciliation, leading palace sources to say they were “saddened and perplexed”.
