Prince Edward has weighed in on the ongoing rift between his nephew Prince Harry and the Royal Family, describing the situation as “very sad.”
In a two candid new interviews, the Earl of Wessex admitted that while he preferred not to get involved he sympathised with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
“It’s very sad, weirdly we’ve all been there before – we’ve all had excessive intrusion and attention in our lives,” he responded when asked by CNN about the situation with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who stepped away from their duties as senior royals last year before relocating to America, and most recently giving a bombshell interview to Oprah in March, in which they addressed the hardships of life within the royal family.
“We’ve all been there. We’ve all had that same spotlight shone on our lives. We’ve been subject to massive intrusion and all the rest of it,” he admitted.
Prince Edward (L) has weighed in on the ongoing saga between Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and the royals, describing the rift as “very sad.”
(Images: Getty)
“It’s difficult for everyone but that’s families for you.”
“We all deal with it in different ways and, listen, we wish them the very best of luck. It’s a really hard decision,” the 57-year-old said.
In a seperate interview with the BBC, he emphasised that he didn’t want to get involved in the saga.
“I stay way out of it. It’s much the safest place to be,” The Queen’s youngest son said.
Prince Harry, Princess Anne, The Queen, Prince Edward and Prince Philip share a laugh together at the 2009 Trooping the Colour ceremony.
(Image: Getty)When quizzed on what he thought of the couple deciding to name their daughter after the Queen’s family nickname of Lilibet, Edward wouldn’t be drawn into the semantics and instead wished the couple well.
“We just wish them all happiness. Its fantastic news, I hope they’re very happy,” he mused.
Prince Edward’s comments come in the wake of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shutting down a BBC report which claimed The Queen didn’t know about their choice in name.
“The Duke spoke with his family in advance of the announcement, in fact his grandmother was the first family member he called. During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name,’ a rep for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex insisted.
Prince Edward and his wife Sophie of Wessex, pictured with their daughter Lady Louise, have recently increased their workload within the royal family.
(Image: Getty)During the chat, the father-of-two also spoke about the recent death of his father, Prince Philip.
“Once met, never forgotten,” he said of his legacy, before revealing The Queen was doing “remarkably well” after losing her husband of 73 years.
“I think everybody’s in pretty good shape, really.”
Since Harry and Meghan’s departure from the royal family, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie of Wessex have been given more responsibilities within the Firm and are fast becoming key royal players.
