Queen Elizabeth’s Former Aide Urges Prince Harry to Stop Playing the 'Victim': 'His Life Is...'
Prince Harry has faced plenty of criticism over the years, but the latest comes from someone with first-hand experience of life inside the Palace. A former senior aide to Queen Elizabeth II has publicly urged the Duke of Sussex to stop portraying himself as the 'victim' and to take control of his own story.
The comments were made during Channel 5’s new documentary, Prince Harry: My Terrible Year, which aired on Saturday. The programme looked at the Duke’s turbulent recent years through the lens of royal commentators and former Palace staff. Among them was Ailsa Anderson, the late Queen’s press secretary from 2001 to 2013. Speaking directly to Harry, she urged, “Stop being the victim and start being the hero of the piece. Start writing your own script.”
Anderson suggested public sympathy for the Duke may be wearing thin, given his antics. She argued, “I think people are just getting a little bit tired of how Prince Harry thinks the world is against him and how awful his life is.” Despite her criticism, she described Harry as a “very warm, engaging and kind person” who has “lost his way.” She also touched on the current tensions between Harry and senior royals, saying, “Trust is paramount in every walk of life; if you can’t trust your family, who can you trust?” GB News reported.
This is not the first time Harry has been urged to abandon the victim narrative. Earlier this year, after Harry claimed he had forgiven his family while dropping fresh allegations against them in his BBC interview, reverend Angela Tilby, the Duke’s childhood priest who attended Princess Diana’s funeral, questioned the sincerity of that statement. As per the Daily Mail, she penned, “He has said too much for relationships to heal. He claims to have forgiven his father and the royal family, but it is clearly a qualified forgiveness.” She warned that his actions had “worsened his alienation from his family.” Tilby argued that genuine reconciliation requires more than words. Forgiveness, she stressed, “involves not only making peace with the offender but, eventually and at great cost, giving up the role of victim.”
In recent months, Harry and King Charles have finally shown signs of reconciliation. Last month, representatives from both sides met at the Royal Over-Seas League in London, their first formal discussions in years.
In a move to ease tensions, Harry has reportedly also agreed to share his official event schedule with the royal family. The arrangement would give the Palace advance notice of his public appearances, helping to avoid clashes between his and Meghan Markle’s engagements and official royal events. The proposal addresses an issue that has long caused friction over concerns of overshadowing one another’s work.