Whoops, he did it again. Recent reports say that the royal family is ticked off that Prince Harry is keeping mum about the way that Netflix show The Crown handled the story of his parents' marriage, essentially painting Prince Charles as a total jerk who cheated and rolled his eyes as Princess Diana suffered (where's the lie, though?). But this is far from the first time the Duke of Sussex — who has a production deal with the streaming service worth mega-millions — has angered his family, from Queen Elizabeth on down. He's been doing it regularly all his life, it seems.
That's not surprising given a couple of factors: As the second son of the heir to the British throne, Harry was destined to be "the spare," playing second fiddle to his big brother and throne heir Prince William. That has to be frustrating, even if your sibling is your bestie.
The other factor is that Diana, who always made sure to tell Harry that he had his own worth, tragically died when he was just 12 years old. Both of those things, which were completely out of his control, made Harry struggle for years to find his place with his family and the wider world. So, yeah, there have been plenty of missteps along the way, as Harry is also independent-minded and somewhat impulsive, which doesn't always jibe within the rigid institution of the British monarchy. Harry and Meghan's dramatic exit from life as working royals is proof of that. Here are 15 ways that Harry has made the royal family mad as hell.
When He Was Born
Harry and his dad may have developed a closer relationship later on, but Princess Diana told biographer Andrew Morton that when Harry was born, Prince Charles was disappointed for two reasons: Harry was a boy, and Charles badly wanted a girl, and Harry had red hair, like Diana's family. Diana said the comments were so hurtful that it convinced her that her marriage was beyond repair. Sad.
When He Used Weed & Alcohol in School
When Harry was 16 years old, word got out that he was partying a bit too heavily at Eton, the posh private school he attended. He'd started using marijuana and getting drunk, so Prince Charles tried to put a stop to it right away. He arranged for Harry to visit a rehab facility and get a "scared straight" talk. The Queen released a statement supporting the move.
When He Allegedly Cheated in School
Woah boy, those teen years after Princess Diana's death were rough for Harry, who seemed lost for a long time — and it's no wonder. He once again made headlines when an art teacher claimed that she had been asked by the school to help Harry because he was such a weak student. Following the admission, she was fired. Just who made the request to Harry's teacher never emerged, but Harry denied the allegations, and the royal family made no other statement. But you can bet Harry got chewed out in private. A tribunal concluded, by the way, that the teacher was dismissed unfairly, but also, that Harry did not cheat.
When He Wore a Nazi Uniform
One of Harry's biggest headline-making moves — and one which incensed the entire royal family — occurred when he went to a costume party wearing a Nazi jacket with a swastika patch on one arm. We gotta wonder what exactly was going on in his head, and we're sure that his family did, too, especially given that hundreds of thousands of British soldiers and civilians died in World War II. He released a written apology.
When He Said No One Wants To Be King
Harry told Newsweek, and we quote: “Is there any one of the royal family who wants to be king or queen? I don’t think so." We pause here for dramatic effect, but he actually continued: "But we will carry out our duties at the right time.” Nice save, Harry, but his dad, Charles, and big bro, William, could not have been thrilled by the way he characterized their future jobs. And we're sure the Queen wasn't happy either.
When His Naked Pics Hit the Tabloids
During his bad-boy teens and 20s, every single member of the royal family must have cringed and crossed their fingers whenever Prince Harry stepped outside the palace. His antics were on that level. During a particularly wild Las Vegas trip, Harry played strip billiards and unwittingly allowed himself to be photographed wearing nothing but his hands on his family jewels. The photos were sold and published by tabloids, causing major embarrassment for the family.
When He Used Racial Slurs
We're super glad that Harry seems to have grown wiser as he's aged because stories about his boorish behavior when he was younger are disappointing. And we're sure his antics pissed off his family. For example, the Queen and Prince Charles must have thought that when Harry joined the Army, his scandal days would be behind him. Alas, he was taped calling a friend by racist nicknames, including "our little Paki friend" and "raghead." Though he quickly apologized, saying he was using the epithets in jest, he was publicly condemned by the prime minister, and surely by his family in private.
When He Fell Into a Pool While Drunk
It seemed Harry was not one to say no to a drink back in the day. At one point, he was filmed partying in Croatia, dancing and drinking at the edge of a pool. Eventually, the inevitable happened and he fell in, then popped back out to continue drinking. Though the Royal Family did not make their feelings about the embarrassing incident known publicly, we're pretty sure he was scolded.
When He Moved Quickly With Meghan
For Harry, there was no doubt about it — as soon as he met Meghan on their first date, he knew that she was the one. He's said as much in interviews. But the rest of the royals weren't so psyched, and they let him know it. Leading the pack was William, who took 10 years to propose to Kate. Both sides were pissed at each other over this one.
When He Blew Up Over Meghan's Wedding Tiara
According to royal insider Katie Nicholls, when Harry was told that Meghan could not wear the tiara she originally wanted for her wedding, he yelled at their staff declaring, "What Meghan wants, Meghan gets!" That apparently angered the Queen to such an extent that she summoned Harry and chewed him out.
When Harry & Meghan Stepped Down
The recent book, Battle of Brothers: William & Harry — The Inside Story of a Family in Tumult, outlined how the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's departure from royal life was actually something the couple did after trying to talk to the family about their roles and not being taken seriously. Still, when they announced publicly that they were heading out, the Queen and other senior royals felt blindsided and angry. The move particularly hit William hard, and he refused to meet Harry in person to hash things out.
When He & Meghan Tried to Trademark 'Sussex Royal'
Harry and Meghan tried to trademark "Sussex Royal." They reportedly wanted to retain the rights to use it on anything from sweatshirts to pencils. Trademarking is a standard practice meant to keep others from using a famous person's name for commercial purposes. Their attempt to trademark Sussex Royal wasn't necessarily a sign that the couple were going to sell key chains and tote bags, but the Queen did not take to the move at all, forcing them to stop the process and drop use of the term.
When He and Meghan Shaded the Queen
When they were banned from using Sussex Royal, including on their Instagram account, Harry and Meghan put out a statement that acknowledged that by British law, they could not continue to use the word royal. They could, however, use it internationally if they wanted, but would not do so out of respect for the Queen. The statement further angered the royals, who reportedly saw it as disrespectful to the Queen to point out the limits of her power.
When 'Finding Freedom' Was Published
While Harry and Meghan have maintained that they did not collaborate with the authors of Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of a Modern Family, a tell-all that's essentially the couple's side of the royal breakup story, we don't really know for sure. While the royal family did not make any public comment after the book's release, we know two people were particularly pissed off: the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The couple are painted in the book as not being exactly friendly to Meghan as she entered the family. William even went so far as to deploy friends to talk to the media about how welcoming he and Kate had been.
When Harry & Meghan Scored That Netflix Deal
Word is that the Queen was none too happy about Harry and Meghan's deal with Netflix. Aside from any objection she might have about the way The Crown portrayed Prince Charles' and Princess Diana's marriage, the deal itself — done without consulting her, reportedly — meant that her grandson, his wife, and their son, would not be returning to the royal fold. The couple's goal of being financially independent and moving on has gone from being a mission to a reality.
