Prince Harry really threw the British media and Buckingham Palace for a loop this week. Given the reaction from fuming courtiers, I still say that they had no idea that Harry would be in London for his two-day security hearing this week. It’s possible that Harry did inform people about his travel plans – the Team Sussex briefings to People Mag suggested that Harry requested police protection but his request was rejected – but the courtiers were behaving as if they had no idea that Harry would be in London, effortlessly stealing his father’s thunder in Italy. To make matters worse for the palace, after Harry left London, he flew into a warzone – he flew to Ukraine, on the invitation of the Superhumans Center, which provides support and medical care to many soldiers and veterans. This is how the Daily Beast’s Royalist reported it:
Prince Harry made an unannounced visit to Ukraine Thursday, making the former soldier only the second member of the British royal family to visit the war-torn country. However, Harry’s visit to the a rehab clinic in Lviv was independently organized without the oversight of Buckingham Palace, who have remained silent on the matter.
Both King Charles and Prince William have met with Ukrainian leaders and refugees in recent months, but prior to Harry’s visit the only royal to have actually visited the country was the king’s sister-in-law, Princess Sophie.
Harry met with patients, medical staff, and veterans receiving care at the Superhumans Centre. He met the clinic’s CEO, Olga Rudneva, at the recent Invictus Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler. Superhumans Centre treats individuals affected and traumatized by war, offering free state-of-the-art prosthetics, reconstructive surgery, rehabilitation, and psychological support—all causes close to Harry’s heart.
During his visit, news and photographs of which were released only after he had left the country, Prince Harry was accompanied by a delegation from the Invictus Games as he toured the facility, chatted with patients and clinicians, and met a surgical team.
The visit was a surprise addition to Harry’s trip to London this week. Harry had spent Tuesday and Wednesday at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, where he is appealing a decision to revoke his government-funded security detail. His legal team warned that his “life is at stake” should the decision stand.
I think this is the funniest line: “Harry’s visit to the rehab clinic in Lviv was independently organized without the oversight of Buckingham Palace, who have remained silent on the matter.” Why would BP have oversight over the trip?? LMAO. The Royalist edges up on the dumb complaint of “I thought Harry was worried about his security, why is he traveling to a warzone?!?” They cried over the same thing when the Sussexes visited Nigeria and Colombia too, conveniently forgetting that all of these visits are coordinated with the host countries. Nigeria and Colombia gave the Sussexes high-level security during their visits, and I can guarantee that Harry and his Invictus team would not have visited Ukraine without guarantees of security in-country. What don’t they understand?? A lot, apparently:
Harry is now the most senior royal to visit Ukraine but is not believed to have informed Buckingham Palace in advance of his trip. It is also been branded ‘highly political’ in view of Donald Trump’s policy on Ukraine.
Veteran royal correspondent and commentator Richard Palmer said: ‘The reaction has been uniform. People are saying “hang on he’s come over because he needs police protection because he’s not safe in the UK. But then he’s gone to a warzone in Ukraine”. While the city is not on the frontline – it is getting regular bombardments so is quite a dangerous place to go.’
He went on: ‘I’m sure it will not go down with some in the Trump camp. It is a public show of support for Zelensky and Ukraine. So that may make life a little less comfortable for him in the US when he gets back. Harry has also wiped King Charles and Queen Camilla off some of the front pages today, which is unfortunate,’ he added.
Piers Morgan went further and said he is a ‘hypocrite’ and claimed the Ukraine trip made Harry look as ‘dumb as a rock’.
“So that may make life a little less comfortable for him in the US when he gets back” – most Americans support Ukraine and we’re appalled by Putin’s takeover of the Republican Party. But really, these people are incandescent with rage because “Harry has also wiped King Charles and Queen Camilla off some of the front pages today.”
Photos courtesy Avalon Red, Cover Images, Superhumans Center IG.
