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How Prince Harry was the victim of an elaborate HOAX phone call with 'Greta Thunberg'
It can be easy to fall for a prank phone call and say things you shouldn't.
But for Prince Harry, who has been trained for the public eye his entire life, his foolishness when it came to pranksters made the national press.
His candid views came during two revealing conversations with hoax callers on New Year's Eve and January 22 in 2020 in which he gave an extraordinary insight into his state of mind during Megxit.
Picking up the phone in his Canada home, Harry believed he was speaking to Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and her father Svante.
But in reality - he was duped by Russians Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov, who posted the footage online.
Historian and biographer Robert Lacey, who was a historical advisor to the Netflix series The Crown, wrote about the fateful phone call in his book Battle of the Brothers.
Harry had been 'coaxed into some embarrassingly frank disclosures that he knew were on their way into the public realm,' Lacey claimed.
The bogus phone call came from the same Russian tricksters who had previously convinced Elton John he was on the phone to Putin about how to promote gay rights in Russia.
But for Harry, the Russian pranksters had enlisted a female accomplice to impersonate climate activist Greta Thunberg - the same ruse that would also fool Bernie Sanders.
Vladimir 'Vovan' Kuznetsov and Alexei 'Lexus' Stolyarov, called Prince Harry twice on a landline at his home on Vancouver Island. The pair then allegedly animated the conversation and posted it on YouTube
The young climate change fighter had been one of the faces on the cover of Meghan's 'Forces for CHANGE' issue of Vogue, meaning a call from Thunberg was not off the cards for Harry.
While Harry dodged questions about the scandal surrounding Prince Andrew, he embarrassingly revealed he did not know where penguins lived.
'Greta' had asked for help rescuing 50 penguins from customs in Belarus and return them to their native home, the South Pole.
'I do have a man who deals with the North Pole,' Harry helpfully replied.
But the Russian hoaxers didn't stop at asking Harry about the environment - they managed to get him to condemn Donald Trump as a man who had 'blood on his hands' and to condemn his fossil fuel policy.
Harry said: 'I think the mere fact that Donald Trump is pushing the coal industry is so big in America, he has blood on his hands.
'Because the effect that has on the climate and the island nations far, far away, again out of sight out of mind.
The Russian pranksters claimed to be Greta and her father Svante, pictured
Harry had been 'coaxed him into some embarrassingly frank disclosures that he knew were on their way into the public realm,' Lacey claimed
'But we've visited those places and I'm sure you have as well. People's lives have been completely destroyed.
'People are dying every single month by some form of natural disaster created from this huge change in our climate.'
When asked about Prince Andrew's relationship with Jeffery Epstein, Harry was quite circumspect.
He said: 'I have very little to say on that.
'But whatever he has done or hasn't done, is completely separate from me and my wife. We operate in a way of inclusivity and we are focusing on community.
'And so we are completely separate from the majority of my family.'
The pranksters told Harry that Donald Trump had run away from 'Greta'.
Harry responded: 'What a surprise. But Trump will want to meet you to make him look better but he won't want to have a discussion about climate change with you because you will outsmart him.
Harry told the prankster, who he believed was Greta Thunberg (pictured in 2024), that he had little to say on Prince Andrew's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein
'Whether you have an option to meet President Trump or an option to meet Boris Johnson, I think I would always.
'It's far more important to have an open dialogue and have conversation with these people than not.'
He urged the fake 'Greta' to seek a meeting with Boris Johnson, claiming: 'I think he is a good man, so you are one of few people who can reach into his soul and get him to feel and believe in you.
'But you have to understand that because he has been around for so long like all of these other people, they are already set in their ways.
'They believe what they want to believe, they believe what they have been told.
'What you are now saying to them is not only inconvenient but is completely against everything they have ever believed.
'So that is what you're up against, up against changing habits, as you know.'
Shockingly Harry did not catch on to the pranksters or appear concerned when the fake 'Greta' spoke about an arranged marriage to the then six-year-old Prince George.
Harry is not the only royal to have fallen for bogus calls with the Queen once being convinced she was talking to the then-Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
The two spoke for 17-minute over the phone at Buckingham Palace in which she agreed to deliver a television address calling for national unity.
When asked about Meghan, Harry admitted candidly that 'marrying a prince or princess isn't all it's made up to be' and that their new life in Canada is 'much better' than serving as senior royals.
Harry also insisted that his military service had made him 'more normal than my family would like to believe'.
Lacey wrote: 'Harry and his new royal minders had been appallingly lax. There had been phone calls from the practical jokers to the Sussexes' landline in Vancouver.
'The hoaxers would never have been able to get through the Buckingham Palace switchboard.'
The Queen's former press secretary Dickie Arbiter said: 'If you're outside the system, you're open to anything.
'For all of its faults, the system does, and is there to, protect.'
The entire conversation went online and was splashed across the papers.
But Lacey wrote: 'The paradox of all this relentless trickery was that Prince Harry would eventually emerge from his poisonous encounter with a certain amount of credit.
'The Russian pranksters had succeeded in coaxing him to speak from the heart.'
'Being in a different position now gives us the ability to say things and do things that we might not have been able to do,' said Harry at the time.
The prince emerged from the 'Greta' ordeal with an even stronger hatred for the press, one of the reasons for his leaving the UK, according to Lacey.
In his call to 'Greta' he said: 'The best advice I can give on that is to be able to see through the fear.
'For most, all of my life, I've always been part of a family and part of a country that is scared of the tabloid media because they have so much power and influence and no morals (chuckles).
'From the moment that I found a wife that was strong enough to be able to stand up for what we believe in together, has basically scared them so much that they've now come out incredibly angry, they've come out fighting, and all they will try and do now is try and destroy our reputation and try and, you know, sink us.
'But what they don't understand is the battle we are fighting against them is far more than just us.
'So I think one of the, what I've always believed, one of the strongest ways to change mindset and be able to raise consciousness and be able to create self-awareness among people, is to challenge the media and say you have a responsibility and you are accountable for everything you are feeding people because you are brainwashing people, so this is far bigger than just us.
'Even though they want to make it personal they are scared because we are some of the first two people willing to stand up to their bullying and my wife, we can't stand back.'
But for the Sussexes, their news was quickly overshadowed by the news of Covid which took the attention away from Harry's blunder.
As Lacey wrote, the pandemic was 'a threat to civilised existence that was even greater than Meghan and her rebellious prince'.
Since the notorious calls there have been well-publicised and lengthy legal battles for the Sussexes' security.
After stepping back from official duties, the duke and duchess were no longer given the security arrangements provided for senior royals.
Harry said it was too dangerous to bring his family back to the UK without adequate police protection and took the Government to court.
He was prompted to sue the Home Office but said he had been 'overwhelmed' by the legal action, which has lasted more than three years.
Harry's battle for more security continues - but it is likely this prank call has made him more diligent when it comes to screening phone calls and who he opens up to.
What Harry said to fake Greta Thunberg after her was duped into opening up on Megxit, the royals, Trump, Boris and climate change
On Megxit
'You can call me whatever you want — Harry is fine. [Asked about Megxit]. Um, it's, that's probably a conversation for another time, there's lots of layers to it and lots of pieces to the puzzle.
'But sometimes the right decision isn't always the easy one.
'I can assure you, marrying a Prince or Princess is not all it's made out to be!
'And this decision certainly wasn't the easy one but it was the right decision for our family, the right decision to be able to protect my son.
'And I think there's a hell of a lot of people around the world that can identify and respect us for putting our family first.
'But, yeah, it's a tricky one, but we will start a new life.'
On their new life in Canada
'Oh no, I think it's much better (than royal life). You forget, I was in the military for ten years so I'm more normal than my family would like to believe.
'But certainly being in a different position now gives us the ability to say things and do things that we might not have been able to do.
'And seeing as everyone under the age of 35 or 36, seems to be carrying out an activist's role, gives us the opportunity to try and make more of a difference without being criticised (chuckles)'.
On being stripped of titles and losing royal privileges
'No, no, again you mustn't believe what you read, no one has stripped us of our titles.
'Because of a technicality within the family, if we are earning money separately from within the family structure, then we obviously have been asked not to use our titles in order to make money, which we would never do.
'But the press managed to jump on that to make it look like we had been stripped.'
On charity work
'I think at the moment, my wife and I, we were being directed towards starting a foundation but we actually decided there is probably enough foundations out there doing amazing work.
'And there's a hell of a lot of money being passed around the world and there are so many problems but we thought we'd just take a moment and see if there was some form of other organisation or different entity we could create that could bring people together, rather than us just starting a foundation. We don't think the world needs necessarily another foundation from us.
'So we are just taking a little bit more time to think about how we can use our platform and how we can use our voice to try and encourage real change and real difference as opposed to, you know, small incremental changes.
'As we all know, the world's problems seem to be getting bigger and seem to be happening far quicker . . . I think the solutions are far quicker to enable as well, but there needs to be a real shift in mindset. We try and do our best.
'I've spent many, many years being criticised by the media for doing all sorts of things and trying to change the way we think, um, and I can sympathise but at the same time applaud the work that all of you are doing because it's not an easy time and the world is a troubled place and can be very easy to give up and I think what you guys are doing absolutely remarkable'.
On Donald Trump
'The mere fact that Donald Trump is pushing the coal industry is so big in America, he has blood on his hands.
'But Trump will want to meet you to make him look better but he won't want to have a discussion about climate change with you because you will outsmart him.
'Whether you have an option to meet President Trump or an option to meet Boris Johnson, I think I would always.
'It's far more important to have an open dialogue and have conversation with these people than not'
On Prince Andrew
'I have very little to say on that.
'But whatever he has done or hasn't done, is completely separate from me and my wife. We operate in a way of inclusivity and we are focusing on community. And so we are completely separate from the majority of my family.'
On Boris Johnson
'I think he is a good man, so you are one of few people who can reach into his soul and get him to feel and believe in you.
'But you have to understand that because he has been around for so long like all of these other people, they are already set in their ways.
'They believe what they want to believe, they believe what they have been told.
'What you are now saying to them is not only inconvenient but is completely against everything they have ever believed.
'So that is what you're up against, up against changing habits, as you know'.
On the climate
'Unfortunately, the world is being led by some very sick people, so people like yourselves and (the) younger generation are the ones that are going to make all the difference.
'People need to be woken up and the only way to wake people up from what effectively is a consciousness crisis is, I think, you need to be doing extreme things.
'What you need to do is make real big changes that actually shock people, and it's that shock factor that wakes people up.'
On the Election
'The fact that our choice was between those two individuals in my mind, I think, probably creates more of an observation that the system itself might be broken.
'There's a lot that the leaders of today can learn and can listen to people like yourself.'
On using private jets
'Unfortunately there is very few alternatives. We have to fly on commercial planes all over the world. Nowhere near as much as most people who do it for a night or weekends.
'Certainly for my family, to protect my family, from these people, as you can well understand.
'I have to put protections and safety of my family first and these people are never-ending.'
On the media
'The best advice I can give on that is to be able to see through the fear.
'What they don't understand is the battle we are fighting against them is far more than just us.
'So I think one of the, what I've always believed, one of the strongest ways to change mindset and be able to raise consciousness and be able to create self-awareness among people, is to challenge the media and say you have a responsibility and you are accountable for everything you are feeding people because you are brainwashing people, so this is far bigger than just us.'
Bizarre exchange on Greta marrying Prince George
Fake Greta says she a distant member of the Swedish royal family
Harry replies with a chuckle: 'Oh wow, so we are related?'
Greta says: 'Yeah its true, and if it will help me in fighting for climate change, should I arrange a dynastic marriage, do you think? I think it'll help.'
The prince is heard responding: 'I am certain it'll help'
The giggling 'Greta' - aged 17 - then says: 'I found some candidates that suits me - James Windsor and Prince George. Their ages I think are very suitable for my marriage. It will help..'
Harry then replies laughing: 'I am sure I can help.'
On moving penguins to the North Pole
A Russian translation of the words shows her asking: 'Now we are dealing with an issue of moving penguins from Belarus to their native land, the North Pole.
'About 50 penguins were stuck at customs in Belarus.
'That's terrible. And we are searching for some ship maybe to transport these poor penguins to their native land.'
Greta's fake father then said: 'North you have some contacts for people who can help us?'
Harry replies: 'I do have a man who deals with the North Pole.
'He is in Norway, he can help as maybe he knows all the right people. I'll give you the contacts on email.'
