'Andrew has shown Harry popularity isn’t a given and you need to choose your friends carefully'
The scandal engulfing Prince Andrew may have taught his nephew Prince Harry a valuable lesson, according to one royal expert.
Duncan Larcombe, former royal editor at The Sun, said the fallout from the allegations surrounding Andrew, as well as the backlash following his ‘car crash’ Newsnight interview, had shown Harry that “your popularity as a royal isn’t a given” and that you “need to choose your friends very carefully”.
READ MORE: ‘Next year won’t be much easier for Meghan and Harry’
Andrew has been removed from public duties following allegations that he slept with a teenage girl who had been trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein - which he categorically denies.
Speaking on Yahoo UK’s The Royal Special, Larcombe said: “One thing that Prince Andrew has shown Harry inadvertently is the fact that your popularity as a royal is not a given.
![Prince Harry with Prince Andrew and a number of other Royal Family members at Trooping the Colour in June 2019 [Photo: Getty]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Pm4j.G3fWmnSvhaM6Pq13g--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA--/https://media-mbst-pub-ue1.s3.amazonaws.com/creatr-uploaded-images/2019-12/0a75a6c0-2af8-11ea-b5fe-7bd21caaa4a0)
“It’s not there for life and you have to engage with the public, you have to engage to some extent with the media and you need to choose your friends very carefully.”
READ MORE: It's No Wonder Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Get Along So Well When You Look at Their Signs
He said Andrew had “surrounded himself for years by the rich and the powerful and that has come back to bite him very badly”.
He went on: “I’m not for a second suggesting Prince Harry is of the same ilk in that association but Harry needs to realise if he hasn’t already that he can’t just expect to be loved.
“He has to give something back to the public and in 2019 I think he’s tried that but they’ve got it wrong time and time again.”
His comments come at the end of a tough year for Prince Harry and wife Meghan, who have faced widespread criticism on issues from the money spent on the renovation of their home to their own environmental credentials despite campaigning on the issue.
In October, Meghan admitted she was struggling with the pressures she faced.
Asked by Tom Bradby, a friend of Prince Harry, on an ITV documentary if she was okay, she replied: “Thank you for asking, because not many people have asked if I’m OK. But it’s a very real thing to be going through behind the scenes.”
