Prince Will and Kate Avoid Awkward Question about Estranged Brother Harry’s ‘Protection’ Comment

Prince Harry, the estranged son and brother to the heirs of the British throne, made a comment about his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II in an interview with Hoda Kotb on NBC’s “Today” in which he said he dropped in to make sure she’s “protected and the right people are around her”.

The Duke of Cambridge may be even more vexed with his brother, Prince Harry, after he and his wife, Kate, were made to dodge a reporter to get to their cars.

“Sir, does the Queen need protecting?” the reporter asked, before the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were driven away in their vehicles.

Harry might be to blame for a reporter asking Will and Kate a bizarre question in regards to the queen’s “protection.” In an interview from Thursday, Harry sat down with Today’s Hoda Kotb in The Hague, Netherlands to discuss the 2022 Invictus Games, a sports competition founded by Harry to aid wounded veterans.

During the interview, Harry made a casual, yet seemingly cryptic comment about his grandmother, who turned 96 on Thursday.

Harry and Meghan met with the Queen for the first time as a couple in mid-April since stepping down as senior royals in 2020, as well as Harry’s father Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

In the interview with “Today” which was broadcasted Wednesday, Harry said it was “so nice to see her” when asked about his grandmother, and then said “I’m making sure she’s protected and the right people are around her.”

The couple did not bring their children, Archie and Lili, because he “does not feel safe” bringing them to the U.K. after losing royal police protection, according to Harry’s attorney. Harry’s fight for security in the U.K. is something he has been open about and is one of the most stressful challenges he has faced since stepping down as a senior royal.

The comment is an echo of the bombshell interview the Duke and Duchess of Sussex gave to Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, a year after they left the U.K. and moved to Meghan’s home state of California.

In the interview, they addressed racist remarks made by the royal family towards Meghan and their baby, Archie, which has since then shaken the relationship between the estranged couple and their family from across the pond.

Harry did not elaborate on who, exactly, the queen may need “protecting” from. The queen said after enduring COVID-19 in February that she has been left feeling “tired and exhausted,” and has since been absent from attending services like the annual Commonwealth Day service, as well as Easter Sunday, an extreme rarity for Her Majesty, as she has been attending royal duties for 70 years.

Her son, Charles, has been stepping up to the plate and filling in his mum’s shoes, in what many are seeing as his preparation to take on the role as the sovereign head of state once his mother passes away.

The comment made by Harry about his grandmother may further fuel the rift between the two brothers, which first began when Harry departed from his senior royal status. “We’re very much not a racist family,” said William in response to his brother’s interview with Oprah.

Harry also said that their late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, was watching over Harry and his family after she had “got William set up”. Their father, Charles, is rumored to be at his wit's end with his loose cannon son, Harry, and palace staff accused Harry of “breathtaking arrogance” in response to the comment.

“He's a loose cannon. He was a loose cannon as a teenager and a young man. He came spectacularly good when he was in the Army and with his charity work. Then, after his marriage, things seemed to go to pot again and he is unpredictable in the things he has said and done,” said royal expert Penny Junor.

While Harry and Meghan were invited to Buckingham Palace in part of the four day celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, celebrating her 70th year on the throne, which is set to begin on June 2, but the couple has yet to commit to any such plans.