Palace ‘did not ask Boris Johnson to persuade Prince Harry to stay in UK’
Boris Johnson was not asked by Buckingham Palace to try and persuade Prince Harry to stay in the UK, The Telegraph understands.
The former prime minister claims in a new book that he was asked to give the Duke of Sussex a “manly pep talk” to convince him not to step back from his royal duties.
He says that officials from Buckingham Palace and Downing Street made the request in the belief that a last-minute intervention, in January 2020, might encourage the Duke to change his mind.
In Unleashed, his memoir which will be published on Oct 10, Mr Johnson describes “a ridiculous business... when they made me try to persuade Harry to stay. Kind of manly pep talk. Totally hopeless”.
The pair enjoyed an “informal” 20-minute meeting, which took place behind closed doors on the margins of a UK-Africa investment summit in London’s Docklands, on January 20, 2020.
Sources close to the Duke confirmed that the then prime minister did suggest that both he and Meghan remain in the UK.
However, sources with knowledge of such meetings at the time insisted that the Palace did not ask Mr Johnson to intervene.
While it cannot be ruled out that a member of the Downing Street team suggested that it might be worth mentioning to the Duke, there was no specific formal request.
By that point, all involved had realised that any attempt to persuade the Sussexes to stay would be futile. The following day, Prince Harry flew to Canada to be reunited with Meghan and their son, Archie.
The previous evening, the Duke had delivered a speech at an event for Sentebale, his charity based in Lesotho, in which he said he had “no other option” but to step back from royal life and spoke of his sadness that it had “come to this”.
A week earlier, on Jan 13, the Duke had joined his grandmother, Elizabeth II, father and elder brother for the so-called Sandringham Summit, to thrash out the terms of his exit.
In his memoir, Spare, the Duke claimed that his brother “screamed and shouted” at him during the talks before “an agreement of sorts was reached”.
Since then, the Duke has focused on establishing a new life in California, while also continuing with his charitable work.
It was confirmed on Friday that the Duke will return early next month to the African kingdom of Lesotho for the first time in almost six years.
Meghan will not join him on the visit, which will focus on advancing youth prosperity and challenges around digital inclusion, education, and employment.
Prince Harry will also participate in Lesotho’s 200th-anniversary celebrations, reuniting with Prince Seeiso, with whom he co founded Sentebale in 2006, shortly after he lost his own mother. The pair will also travel to Johannesburg.
The Duke hailed Sentebale’s “profound understanding of local youth” in Lesotho and Botswana and expressed hope that the charity could help in “addressing the challenges faced by the next generation in southern Africa”.
The seed of Sentebale was planted in 2004 when a 19-year-old Harry spent two months in Lesotho during his gap year.
He came face-to-face with Aids orphans, met other traumatised young people and visited herd boys living a harsh existence looking after cattle in remote mountain areas.
The teenage prince had been invited to the country, land-locked inside South Africa, by Seeiso, a friend of his mentor, ex-Army officer Mark Dyer, and the experience made a lasting impression.
His return will follow a whirlwind trip to London, where he will attend the WellChild Awards on Monday evening. Last week, he made a series of high-profile appearances in New York.
