Prince Harry didn't hide his disdain against the press when he gave a remark to them during his and Meghan Markle's first royal tour. The Times Valentine Low shared details about the tour in his new book Courtiers: The Hidden Power Behind The Crown.
Prince Harry Reportedly Acted Rudely And Like A Sulky Teenager When He Faced The Royal Rota
The royal rota is the press pool that covers the British royal family. They are a select group of media representatives from various outlets that attend royal events or join royals during their tour to deliver news and photographers from the event.
British journalist Low was part of the royal rota during the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's first royal tour — when they visited Australia, New Zealand, Fiji and Tonga in October 2018. However, Prince Harry gave Low the impression that he didn't want to face them, Express reported.
According to Low in his new book, the royal rota was informed that Prince Harry and Markle would address them during their five-hour flight from Tonga to Sydney. It was a "standard part of the royal tour." Prince Harry and Markle reportedly appeared before them after the plane had landed.
According to Low, when Prince Harry talked to them, he "looked like a sulky teenager, forced against his will to talk to some unwelcome visitors."
Markle reportedly smiled "benignly" to the media. However, she let her husband do most of the talking after a polite exchange.
"[Harry] sounded rushed, as if he couldn't wait to get back into the first-class cabin, away from the media," Low wrote.
"'Thanks for coming', he told the assembled press pack, 'even though you weren't invited,'" the book continued. "Even for a man who has a deep mistrust of the press, this was spectacularly rude - and incorrect. The media very much had been invited to cover the tour."
Prince Harry's staff reportedly briefed him on how badly his remarks had been received by the press pack. However, Prince William's brother seemed not to care about the media's response.
"He replied: 'Well, you shouldn't have made me do it'," Low added in his book.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's rep did not immediately respond to Express' request for comment.
Prince Harry's Real Feelings Toward The Press
The Duke of Sussex wanted to live a normal life away from the press. A compilation of his previous interviews reflected his disdain toward the media.
"I just generally don't like England that much and, you know, it's nice to get away from all the press and the papers and the general shite that they write," he said in one clip, InStyle reported.
In another interview, Prince Harry shared how he was advised by his father and everyone in the palace not to read the news about him, but he still does. However, he doesn't believe them.
"My father says don't read it, everyone says don't read it, because it's always rubbish, I'm surprised how many people in the U.K. actually read it," he said. "I mean everyone's guilty for buying the newspapers, I guess, but hopefully no one actually believes what they read. I certainly don't."
One of the reasons Prince Harry hated the press was because of his mother's death. He blamed the paparazzi for chasing Princess Diana, causing the car crash that resulted in her death.
The worse part for Prince Harry was the realization that the same people that chased his mom were allegedly the ones who also took photos of her dying hours.
"I think one of the hardest things to come to terms with is the fact that the people that chased her into the tunnel were the same people that were taking photographs of her while she was still dying on the back seat of the car," Prince Harry said, per CBS News.
"She'd quite a severe head injury but she was very much still alive in the back seat and those people that caused the accident, instead of helping, they were taking photographs in the back seat and then those photographs made their way back to news desks," he added.
Stay tuned for more news and updates about Prince Harry.