CNN has launched Royal News, a new weekly dispatch bringing you the inside track on the royal family, what they are up to in public and what’s happening behind palace walls. Sign up here.
Edward, Earl of Wessex, pops his head around the door of the room in St James’s Palace and chuckles at the numerous cameras set up for the interview. “Do you have enough?” he laughs.
The Queen’s youngest child, 57, seems to be in good spirits on this glorious summer day in London despite the occasion. Thursday would have been the 100th birthday of Edward’s father, Prince Philip, and he is marking the date by reflecting on the Duke of Edinburgh’s legacy and his eponymous Award program.
But there is an elephant in the room. Hours before CNN’s US exclusive sit-down with the Earl, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were forced to deny a report in the British media that they had not consulted the Queen about using her childhood nickname of Lilibet for their newborn daughter.
Headlines probing the relationship between the Sussexes and the rest of the family have been frequent since the couple relinquished their roles as working royals last year and relocated to California. Responding to a question about current family tensions, the Earl says the situation is “very sad.”
“Listen, weirdly we’ve all been there before – we’ve all had excessive intrusion and attention in our lives. And we’ve all dealt with it in slightly different ways, and listen, we wish them the very best of luck. It’s a really hard decision,” Edward says.
Harry and Meghan have often spoken about the pressures of royal life and being constantly scrutinized by the media. In a bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March, the Duke said the relentless scrutiny was one of the deciding factors in the family’s move to the United States. In her discussion with Winfrey, the Duchess also revealed she had contemplated suicide during her first pregnancy and that there had been questions over the skin color of their then-unborn son, Archie.
Edward says he hopes the couple are happy before returning to the subject of the rift, suggesting disagreements happen in every family.
“It’s difficult for everyone but that’s families for you,” he says.
For several reasons, it’s been a challenging few months for Britain’s royal family, who are still mourning the loss of their patriarch in April. Due to Covid-19 measures at the time, the funeral arrangements were considerably scaled back by royal standards, and the number of attendees limited to just 30 people.
“It was an experience that so many other families have had to go through during this past year or 18 months and so in that sense, it was particularly poignant,” says Edward. “There are an awful lot of people who haven’t been able to express the respect that they would like to have done. I think many people would have liked to have been there to support the Queen.”
