Prince Harry made 'three errors' in explosive BBC interview, according to expert

Edinburgh Live

13-05-2025

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Prince Harry's BBC interview following the dismissal of his appeal over UK security downgrading was riddled with blunders, PR guru David Yelland has observed.
The Duke of Sussex, aged 40, sought legal action after Ravec withdrew his high-level police protection upon his withdrawal from Royal duties and relocation to the US with Meghan Markle in 2020.
Yet, when his appeal was turned down by the Court of Appeal, he promptly sat down with the BBC to voice his disapproval, calling on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for support, and revealing that his father, King Charles, wouldn't communicate with him during the dispute.
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Despite the tension, Prince Harry still voiced a wish to mend fences with his family.
David Yelland, ex-editor of The Sun and now a PR consultant, empathised with Prince Harry but also pointed out where he went wrong. Speaking on the BBC Radio 4 podcast 'When It Hits the Fan', Yelland identified three principal mistakes by the Duke, reports the Mirror.
(Image: (Image: PA/BBC))
(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
He first mentioned that Harry "went in hot", commenting: "You never go into an interview hot with your blood up. You have to be cool, and he wasn't cool. You can see it in his body language and what he said."
Mr Yelland highlighted that the Duke "was not prepared because he thought he was going to win" the case, and added: "And then the third mistake, which he made probably because he was angry and he did expect to win, is that he volunteered what has become an uncontrollable global news story," as reported by the Express.
In the contentious interview, Harry brought up the King's cancer treatment and voiced doubts about "how much longer my father has left", drawing widespread disapproval for prompting speculation on Charles's health.
"This interview didn't need to be like this," Mr Yelland commented. "It could have been so much better, or maybe it didn't need to happen at all, now."
Simon Lewis, who co-hosts with Mr Yelland and once served as communications secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, pointed out that "the central tenet of PR is often timing – when you choose to do things, and secondly how you choose to do them".
He went on to say: "There was probably someone advising Harry to go on the offensive straight away after the decision.
"The difficult messages about his perceived mistreatment were communicated very directly, to put it mildly."
Mr Lewis suggested that the Duke might have done well to take a moment before issuing his statements, noting: "Perhaps he should have delivered some of his messages so much more elegantly – as you say, that reference to how much longer he's got.
"A less confrontational tone might have garnered more sympathy."
In a recent interview, the Duke, who now lives in California with Meghan and their two children, Archie and Lilibet, voiced his concerns about returning his family to the UK without sufficient security arrangements.