Princess Diana’s ex-bodyguard Ken Wharfe has reportedly stated that her son, Prince Harry, “was wrong to blame the media” for his UK exit. Harry and Meghan Markle stepped down as working royals in 2020. They cited extreme negativity and malice from the British media, particularly towards Markle, as a major reason for their exit. The Duke of Sussex described the British press as “toxic” and damaging to his family’s wellbeing.
Prince Harry is ‘wrong’ to blame the media, says Princess Diana’s former bodyguard
According to the late Princess Diana’s former bodyguard, Ken Wharfe, Prince Harry has “failed to understand” the media. Express reported that Harry drew parallels between Meghan Markle’s relationship with the media and that of his late mother, Princess Diana. The duke slammed the aggressive manner in which the UK media hounded Markle, comparing it to what Diana went through.
However, Diana’s former bodyguard thinks it’s wrong of Harry to pin the blame on the media. Wharfe claimed that Harry’s move to the US was not a “direct consequence of his mother’s death.” Instead, it was due to a “complex” situation. Wharfe explained that Diana made peace with the press and “accepted media intrusion” as part of her life as a royal.
But he noted that the Duke of Sussex clearly has a “deep dislike of the media and the paparazzi.” Wharfe said, “Much of his public life in recent years has centered around legal action against media organizations, together with his disputes with the Government and the Metropolitan Police over security. In my view, though, that has very little to do with Diana.”
Diana’s former royal protection officer agreed that the media and paparazzi are far more intrusive, persuasive, and relentless today than they were a few decades ago. Yet, he believes Harry was “wrong” to blame the media for his departure from the royal family and “failed” to understand the media’s purpose. “Yes, the media could be intrusive, as his mother experienced throughout her life, but the media did not kill Diana,” he concluded.
