Prince Harry’s bombshell move on Princess Charlotte’s birthday that shocked the world

The Duke of Sussex gave a bombshell interview on May 2 last year – the same day his niece turned 10.

Prince Harry gave a shocking interview on Princess Charlotte’s 10th birthday (Image: Jonathan Brady / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Prince Harry made Princess Charlotte’s 10th birthday last year a day to remember, but not for the right reasons. As Prince William and Princess Catherine’s daughter was celebrating turning double digits last year, Prince Harry was across the pond giving a bombshell interview that would drag the Royal Family into the headlines again for all the wrong reasons.

On the evening of May 2, the Duke of Sussex sat down with BBC News in California to share his feelings after losing a legal challenge over his security in the UK. In this interview, Harry said he “would love a reconciliation”, before going on to say things that would strain his relationships with his relatives even more.

As well as saying his father King Charles wouldn’t speak to him “because of this security stuff”, Harry also said he did “not know how much longer” the King has left – a statement which sparked speculation over how well the King’s cancer treatment was going.

Harry, 41, then claimed that he wouldn’t bring his wife Meghan Markle and their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet back to the UK until security issues were resolved.

The interview with BBC News, which happened soon after Harry lost his court appeal, also resulted in the duke claiming that security matters were the reasons behind his falling out with some of his family members, and that he believes the reason he lost his 24/7 taxpayer-funded security in 2020 was a move by the Firm to try and keep him as a working royal.

He said: “Everybody knew that they were putting us at risk in 2020, and they hoped that my knowing that risk would force us to come back.

“But then, when you realise that didn’t work, do you not want to keep us safe? Whether you’re the government, the Royal Household, whether you’re my dad, my family – despite all of our differences, do you not want to just ensure our safety?”

He later said: “This, at the heart of it, is a family dispute, and it makes me really, really sad that we’re sitting here today, five years later, where a decision that was made most likely, in fact I know, to keep us under the roof.”

Buckingham Palace responded to the claims in Harry’s bombshell BBC interview. In a very clear statement, it said: “All of these issues have been examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts, with the same conclusion reached on each occasion.”

It is believed Harry didn’t time the interview deliberately to clash with his niece, Princess Charlotte’s, 10th birthday.

However, the bombshell interview on May 2, 2025, is likely to have angered certain family members who would have preferred the focus remain on the young princess’s big day.