Princess Diana’s former bodyguard said Prince Harry should step up as a royal and take responsibility for his role in the Thomas Markle debacle.
In an interview with Yahoo News’ The Royal Box on Friday, retired Metropolitan Police inspector Ken Wharfe, 69, said the 33-year-old royal should have insisted to help the former lighting director, 74, cope with the media attention surrounding his daughter Meghan.
“He’s not an unintelligent guy,” he said. “He’s been through the mill himself, he knows what press intrusion is like. He has a drawbridge and a portcullis to hide behind when they pursue him. Thomas Markle doesn’t.”
Ken believes Thomas isn’t getting the appropriate support he needs from the royal family to help him navigate the media invasion following the former Suits star becoming England’s Duchess of Sussex.
“Nobody’s looking after him. They’re going to bend his arm, there’ll be the offers money, there’ll be the pursuing paparazzi, the invasion and the negative reporting that we’ve seen. Harry could have done something about that. He may have advised palace officials, maybe he did, but he could have insisted on that. He could well have done, but for some reason, it hasn’t happened.”
And he said that he has sympathy for Thomas despite his constant public outbursts, adding: “I don’t think we should dismiss her father as someone who’s made mistakes here, as an ogre. His behaviour is a result of poor advice or no advice.”
It comes after Thomas made some more explosive revelations during a chat with the Daily Mail last week, as he revealed that he hung up on Prince Harry during a fiery telephone call, following the publication of a set of staged paparazzi photos in the lead up to the royal wedding.
The 74-year-old, who hasn’t seen his daughter since before the wedding on May 19, also confessed to lying to the Duke of Sussex about the set-up pictures, which caused a scandal just days before Meghan and Harry said ‘I do’.
“Harry told me that I should never go to the press,” he told the British newspaper. “That it would end in tears. He said, ‘They will eat you alive’. He was right.”
He previously claimed that the former Suits star is “terrified” of her new life, after she was pictured during an official trip to Ireland, saying he can tell that Meghan is feeling the pressure due to her “pained smile”.
The retired lighting director has also previously taken aim at Her Majesty the Queen, taking umbrage with the fact the monarch met US President Donald Trump before him.