Prince Harry’s Struggles With The Royal Life Doesn’t 'Add Up’, Says Former Butler
Former royal butler Grant Harrold gave insights into Prince Harry's life behind Palace doors, contrasting the Duke's claims in his memoir.
Back in 2023, Prince Harry caused royal chaos with the release of his memoir, Spare. In the explosive book, the Duke of Sussex detailed his struggles as a royal and made serious allegations against his family. Reflecting on the controversial claims, former royal butler Grant Harrold pulled back the curtain on Harry’s life, claiming that his account in the book doesn't 'add up'. Harrold, for instance, revealed that the Duke had a healthy relationship with Queen Camilla, despite him labelling her a ‘wicked stepmother.’
In a conversation with Fox News, Harrold claimed that he witnessed no animosity between Harry and Camilla during her 2005 wedding to then-Prince Charles. He said, "When you look at these pictures of Harry around his stepmother, both leaving Windsor and chasing after the cars, that’s not somebody who’s unhappy. If he was really that unhappy, I know people who wouldn’t even go to weddings or wouldn’t even get involved because they’re unhappy." He stressed that things went ‘lovely’ without any ‘issues.’
The former butler also argued that there was ‘no evidence’ of Harry being ‘unhappy’ or suffering from ‘mental issues’ during his time in the royal fold. In Spare, the Duke stated that he stepped down as a senior royal owing to the lack of support from the Palace with regard to the constant press intrusions. Harrold stressed, "My memories and Harry’s are obviously very different. It’s up to people to read my book and make their own minds about it... If they read what I’ve put, look at press clippings or any TV footage from back in the day... it’ll be quite obvious that something, as I keep saying, doesn’t add up."
Additionally, Harrold described Charles as a ‘hands-on’ father, despite Harry claiming that he was mostly absent as a parent. The butler opined, "He [Charles] was very funny with them. He was very sweet with them. And he definitely tried to fill a gap, 100 percent. He was trying to fill that space their mother’s death had left." He also believed that the Duke’s character was influenced by his grandfather, Prince Philip. "I was talking about Harry the other day, and someone said, ‘He comes across as being quite stubborn.’ I said, ‘Well, you could say that’s from his grandfather, Prince Philip… because his grandfather was quite stubborn.' His mother stood her ground. You could argue that side as well."
Harrold's comments come in response to the Duke's many revelations in his memoir, where he described his rivalry with William and opened up about the death of his mother, Princess Diana. In the opening chapter, Harry wrote that Charles was the first to break the news of his mother’s accident, but didn’t hug him. He also penned that he and William 'begged' Charles not to marry Camilla, worried she would become a 'wicked stepmother.' Moreover, he accused Camilla of selling unfavorable stories about him in the press.
