Was Prince Harry’s UK visit more trouble than it was worth? | BBC News — Transcript

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1. 0:00Would
2. 0:01this [music] visit be the return of
3. 0:03Harry and Megan to the UK? Would the
4. 0:06king finally see his grandchildren?
5. 0:09>> I did wonder [music] whether anybody's
6. 0:11got a picture.
7. 0:12>> Would Harry find a peace with his royal
8. 0:14family?
9. 0:16>> Sometimes it's just a difficult day.
10. 0:17>> It's been a [music] week of confusion.
11. 0:20>> Is this the best war in hospital?
12. 0:21>> Yes.
13. 0:22>> And reunion. I'm Daniela Ralph. I'm the
14. 0:25BBC's senior royal correspondent and
15. 0:28I've been covering the royal family on
16. 0:30and off for more than 10 years. Let's
17. 0:32look back at how this visit has played
18. 0:35out. [music]
19. 0:39This trip was full of twists and [music]
20. 0:42turns. Right from the start, Prince
21. 0:43Harry was supposed to be here with his
22. 0:45wife Megan and their two children,
23. 0:48Archie and Liet. 6 years after leaving
24. 0:51royal life and the UK behind, it was a
25. 0:54chance for a moment of reconciliation,
26. 0:56even a family reunion. But the key
27. 0:59sticking point was security.
28. 1:05>> Prince Harry and his personal security
29. 1:07team [music] wanted taxpayer funded
30. 1:10police protection while here that would
31. 1:12give them access to all of the expertise
32. 1:14of the Met [music] Police. It's the kind
33. 1:16of thing that Taylor Swift had when she
34. 1:18was in the UK in 2024 after a terrorist
35. 1:22threat forced her to cancel a concert in
36. 1:24Austria. [music]
37. 1:25But the government committee that
38. 1:26decides these things, which includes
39. 1:28members of the royal household and the
40. 1:29[music] Met Police, did not make that
41. 1:31offer to Harry. So, he did not bring his
42. 1:34family [music] to London. And in
43. 1:37addition, right before this trip even
44. 1:39started, there was a further twist.
45. 1:44First thing this [music] morning, the
46. 1:45Duke's official spokesperson said Harry
47. 1:47would be staying at the palace while
48. 1:49visiting London this week. Just [music]
49. 1:51minutes later, a palace spokesperson
50. 1:54said this wasn't true. Sources claim
51. 1:56Prince Harry had not responded in time
52. 1:58to their offer of palace accommodation,
53. 2:01so could no longer stay there. The
54. 2:04result of all of this is more friction
55. 2:06and more confusion. When it comes to
56. 2:08Harry, Megan, and the royal family,
57. 2:11nothing is straightforward. really big
58. 2:13day in terms of Prince Harry's crusade
59. 2:16against the press.
60. 2:20>> Prince Harry and six other people have
61. 2:23lost their high court privacy case
62. 2:24against the publisher of the Daily Mail
63. 2:26and Mail on [music] Sunday. They'd sued
64. 2:29Associated Newspapers Limited for
65. 2:31unlawful information gathering, alleging
66. 2:33that they had been [music] the victims
67. 2:34of phone hacking and other illegal
68. 2:36activities.
69. 2:38I was with him this afternoon at this
70. 2:40charity event here in central London.
71. 2:42Good afternoon everyone. Um and thank
72. 2:44you to all our supporters uh partners
73. 2:46and sponsors for being here.
74. 2:48>> He hid his disappointment about the
75. 2:49court ruling very well. Delivered a
76. 2:52speech. He spoke to military veterans
77. 2:53and he didn't really let on what he was
78. 2:55thinking.
79. 3:01It's the end of the first day of Prince
80. 3:03Harry's visit to the UK and it has been
81. 3:05a really tricky day for him losing that
82. 3:08court case. There was then a long hot
83. 3:11wait in the baking sun to see if Prince
84. 3:13Harry would answer any of the media's
85. 3:15questions.
86. 3:22>> Yeah, I'll send it to him. You put it on
87. 3:24Danny put it on the team's chat.
88. 3:26>> We've now had a statement from Prince
89. 3:28Harry issued jointly with Baroness
90. 3:30Dorene Lawrence who is the mother of
91. 3:32murdered teenager Steven Lawrence and it
92. 3:34makes very clear how they both feel
93. 3:36here. They say in their statement that
94. 3:38they went to court seeking justice and
95. 3:41accountability, but we have received
96. 3:43neither. They say,
97. 3:45>> let's talk to our senior royal
98. 3:46correspondent, Daniela Ralph. Uh, what
99. 3:48does all this mean for Prince Harry now?
100. 3:50Then
101. 3:50>> he has lost a legal case, is not staying
102. 3:52at Buckingham Palace, is not getting
103. 3:55police protection, and it has been a
104. 3:57challenging and messy start to this
105. 3:59trip. Sophie,
106. 4:02>> guys, off the street. Off the street.
107. 4:06And that was the last we saw of Harry in
108. 4:09London. We were due to be filming with
109. 4:10the Duke the next day at an event
110. 4:12involving the Chelsea pensioners, but
111. 4:14there was a lastm minute change of plan.
112. 4:17Private meetings took place without the
113. 4:19media present. A source close to the
114. 4:22Duke insisted it was because of the
115. 4:23extreme heat forecast and the lack of
116. 4:26shade in the hospital grounds. It also
117. 4:29meant there would be no questions about
118. 4:31his legal defeat.
119. 4:37There was also no sign of Harry going
120. 4:39into Clarence house to meet his father,
121. 4:41the king.
122. 4:43>> We're now approaching Birmingham
123. 4:45International.
124. 4:47>> We're now on our way to Birmingham for
125. 4:49the next phase of this trip. There's
126. 4:51probably a bit of relief in Prince
127. 4:52Harry's camp to be leaving some of the
128. 4:54drama of London behind. The big
129. 4:57question, though, is will Megan join
130. 5:00Harry in the Midlands?
131. 5:03Shake your hand. Oh, what's that?
132. 5:06>> In the full gaze of the media, Prince
133. 5:08Harry was doing what he does best in
134. 5:10Birmingham.
135. 5:11>> On show was old school Harry.
136. 5:14>> You know who is obsessed with Lego? My
137. 5:16son,
138. 5:18>> obsessed. And he's very good at building
139. 5:20things as well.
140. 5:22>> A reminder of how comfortable he is
141. 5:24doing this kind of stuff. That's
142. 5:25especially obvious when he's meeting
143. 5:27children. But we wouldn't be seeing
144. 5:30Harry's own kids or Megan, at least on
145. 5:33any engagements.
146. 5:39>> It's one of the moments of the trip, the
147. 5:41launch event for next year's Invictus
148. 5:43Games, which will be hosted here at the
149. 5:45NEC in Birmingham.
150. 5:47>> Lovely. Thank you so much. Thank you.
151. 5:50>> Because Invictus has never just been
152. 5:52about belonging to a team. It's about
153. 5:54belonging to each other. We are a
154. 5:57family, one that I am so proud and so
155. 6:01honored to be a part of.
156. 6:04[cheering]
157. 6:05>> Watching Prince Harry here in Birmingham
158. 6:07today, a few things have crossed my
159. 6:09mind. First, that he's here on his own.
160. 6:11This was supposed to be a big moment
161. 6:12when we'd see him alongside his wife
162. 6:14Megan. But security concerns meant that
163. 6:17didn't happen. I'm also struck by just
164. 6:19how good he is at these kind of
165. 6:21engagements. He's got this easy charm.
166. 6:24He'll talk to anyone. he'll really get
167. 6:26stuck in. They are the kind of skills
168. 6:28that would be really handy if he was
169. 6:30still doing official royal engagements.
170. 6:33And that's the other thing here. You are
171. 6:35struck by just how deep the tensions
172. 6:37still are between Harry and his royal
173. 6:40family. And that remains a major talking
174. 6:43point.
175. 6:44>> Hello and welcome to When It Hits the
176. 6:46Fan on BBC Radio 4, the show about PR
177. 6:50and power. Z, how important do you think
178. 6:52it is to see Harry back here in the UK
179. 6:55sort of back to old school royal
180. 6:56business in a way? Do you think that
181. 6:58that matters to see that
182. 7:00>> we've all have family issues and and
183. 7:02fractures and so what we're doing is
184. 7:03we're we're seeing ourselves in the
185. 7:05mirror and that's why so many people are
186. 7:07leaning in and they're so invested in
187. 7:09this story.
188. 7:10>> You've over the years known quite a few
189. 7:12royal fan hitters. I wonder where you
190. 7:14think the Harry and Megan one sits. The
191. 7:16Harry situation is actually one of the
192. 7:19biggest existential threats the palace
193. 7:21have had. If they don't solve it longer
194. 7:23term when William becomes king, there
195. 7:25will be two palaces, two courts, one in
196. 7:28America and one in the UK. And that that
197. 7:30could be a real threat.
198. 7:31>> We've spent all week ringing contacts in
199. 7:33the UK and in California to try to find
200. 7:36out if Megan and the kids are coming
201. 7:38over. Well, we finally got our answer
202. 7:41and it came from Buckingham Palace
203. 7:43who've told us that the king and queen
204. 7:45have met up with Harry, Megan, Archie,
205. 7:48and Liet at Highrove, the king's home in
206. 7:51Glostershare.
207. 7:53We won't see any photos of the family
208. 7:55reunion that will stay as a private
209. 7:58moment.
210. 7:58>> The target,
211. 7:59>> you could be the target.
212. 8:01>> Instead, the grand finale of Prince
213. 8:03Harry's visit took a much lighter turn.
214. 8:06We are essentially trying to channel the
215. 8:08energy of the goat to feel at one with
216. 8:11the spirit of the goat.
217. 8:13>> After a heavygoing week,
218. 8:16[laughter]
219. 8:17>> goat yoga, anyone?
220. 8:20>> Harry found himself quite the draw for
221. 8:22all those getting involved in the yoga
222. 8:24sessions.
223. 8:25>> The children here are supported by
224. 8:26Scotty's little soldiers, helping
225. 8:28military families where children are
226. 8:30lost parents.
227. 8:31>> Two.
228. 8:33Even a prince used to Californian
229. 8:35sunshine appreciated a water fight in
230. 8:38the baking British weather.
231. 8:39>> What is your name?
232. 8:42>> You're all right. You're all right.
233. 8:43You're all right.
234. 8:45[laughter]
235. 8:46>> He's my hero.
236. 8:47>> And the questions from children offered
237. 8:50some interesting responses from Harry.
238. 8:53>> What makes you laugh when you've had a
239. 8:55difficult day?
240. 9:01>> You know what? Sometimes,
241. 9:05[snorts] sometimes it's just a difficult
242. 9:07day. I think this goes to all of you.
243. 9:08There are some days where you'd like to
244. 9:10laugh, but it might not always be
245. 9:12possible to laugh.
246. 9:15[screaming]
247. 9:16>> Getting Prince Harry away at the end of
248. 9:18[music] the final engagement wasn't
249. 9:19easy.
250. 9:21>> Thank you so much.
251. 9:22>> Virtually everyone got their selfie.
252. 9:24Eventually, a lot hung on this visit for
253. 9:27both Prince Harry and the king. In the
254. 9:30run-up, things had [music] been tense.
255. 9:32Everyone was wary, and that feeling
256. 9:35lingered. But it ended with a reunion
257. 9:38that could mark the start of a shift in
258. 9:40family [music] dynamics. A week is a
259. 9:43very long time in the story of the
260. 9:45turbulent [music] relationship between
261. 9:47Harry and Megan and the royal family.