Prince Harry’s estrangement from the Royal Family led to him missing out on the poignant 80th anniversary celebrations for D-Day, according to an expert.
On Wednesday and Thursday this week Prince William, King Charles and Queen Camilla led events to mark 80 years since Allied troops landed on the beaches at Normandy.
Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie also attended special commemorative services, but Harry was forced to miss out despite his military credentials.
Royal commentator Katie Nicholl said on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show that it would have been a “pretty stomach-clenching moment” for the Duke to watch the celebrations knowing he could not take part.
She said: “Every time we cover the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday if there’s anyone that’s earned the right to be there and to lay a wreath, it’s Prince Harry because he fought for his Queen and his country in Afghanistan twice.
“And I can only imagine, and we were talking about how happy is out in Montecito and I believe he is, he’ll be watching those D-Day commemorations.
“He was a soldier for a big part of his life as we know through the Invictus community and I think it’s a pretty stomach-clenching moment for him where it’s that realisation that despite what he did, he wasn’t a part of this because he’s not a part of the working class Royal Family.”
Royal editor Matt Wilkinson claimed that the reason Harry was not there was because he “burnt his bridges” with the royals following his departure for California in 2020.
Ms Nicholl added: “Currently, we don’t know whether he [Harry] did anything in Montecito, but if he did, he didn’t do anything publicly.
“And you’ll remember that one Remembrance Sunday when he and Meghan were photographed laying a wreath and that backfired on them so badly.
“So I think they’ve learned from things like that so it must’ve been a hard moment for him to watch these two days of commemorations in Normandy and in Britain and know that just like being a soldier, he wasn’t a part of it.”
William gave an update on Princess Kate’s health while chatting with a veteran this week, as she was unable to attend due to her ongoing cancer treatment.
He said that his wife was feeling “better” and that “she would’ve loved to be here today”, especially due to her late grandmother’s role at Bletchley Park breaking the Enigma code.
William said: “I was reminding everyone her grandmother used to work at Bletchley Park. She had a lot in common with some of the ladies here who never spoke about anything until the very end.”
