Buckingham Palace may have informally encouraged Boris Johnson to speak to Prince Harry about staying in the Royal Family when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their decision to step back in 2020, according to royal author Valentine Low.
The claim stems from Mr Johnson’s memoirs, in which he described what he called the “ridiculous business” of being asked to persuade Prince Harry not to quit royal life.
He said he gave the Duke of Sussex “a kind of manly pep talk” but admitted it was “totally hopeless.”
The exchange between Harry and Mr Johnson took place on the margins of the UK–Africa Investment Summit in London’s Docklands in January 2020.
Boris Johnson ‘unlikely to have made up’ Prince Harry request despite Palace denial
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Prince Harry had used the occasion to give a speech saying he and Meghan felt they had “no other option” but to step away as senior royals. The then-prime minister held an informal 20-minute meeting with Prince Harry without aides present.
The Palace insisted it had not asked Mr Johnson to intervene, though Mr Low suggested to the People's Channel that the reality may have been less clear-cut, with an informal request possible.
Speaking exclusively to GB News, Mr Low said: “It’s always easy not to believe Boris Johnson, isn’t it, but Palace denials I slightly take with a pinch of salt as well.
“I think for the Palace to deny it, I think what they’re denying is that someone officially asked him, whereas I think it could have been a lot more informal than that.
Boris Johnson, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry pictured in 2018
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“Someone might have said, ‘Oh God, you have a word, Boris,’ you know, that sort of thing. So I think the Palace can probably claim they’re telling the truth, and Boris Johnson can probably claim he’s telling the truth.”
Mr Low added: “I doubt it very much Boris would make it up. I I think someone in or around the Palace asked him to have a word with no great expectations of any results, maybe reflecting their desperation.
“But in a funny way, I believe them both, but it certainly wasn’t a formal, official request, but I think someone said something.”
In his book Power and the Palace, Mr Low sets the exchange within the wider breakdown of negotiations over the Sussexes’ future.
Prince Harry and Boris Johnson pictured in 2014
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The Duke of Sussex (left) with Boris Johnson at the UK-Africa Investment Summit in 2020
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Harry and Meghan had hoped to divide their time between Britain and North America, while retaining roles within the monarchy.
Attempts to find a compromise ultimately failed, and it was agreed that the couple would step down as working royals. They left the country in March 2020.
Mr Johnson’s intervention, whether formal or informal, did nothing to alter the course of events. Mr Low said the episode reflected the desperation within royal circles at the time, but also highlighted the determination of the Sussexes to go through with their plans.
“Harry and Meghan were not about to change their minds, not for Boris Johnson, not for anyone,” he wrote.