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ROYAL 'SNUB'
‘Horrible & disrespectful’ Prince Harry was ‘cracking jokes’ instead of wishing King and Kate well in ‘deliberate snub’
Harry's award caused controversy among some military figures
PRINCE Harry was last night accused of showing disrespect to King Charles and Princess Kate by failing to mention the poorly pair in an awards speech.
The Duke of Sussex, 39, spoke for four minutes at the Hollywood event without referring to his dad, who faces a prostate op, or his sister-in-law, who is recovering from surgery.
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The glitzy Living Legends of Aviation event — at which former Apache helicopter pilot Harry was presented with a medal — was his first public appearance since Wednesday’s health news broke.
A written version of his speech, seen by The Sun on Sunday, included no word of the double royal health scare.
It is not known if Harry mentioned it privately but he was at the bash only a short time.
Royal biographer Angela Levin said: “He just needed to say one sentence. I actually think it’s horrible and disrespectful that he didn’t.
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“It was a deliberate snub — to prove that he’s independent and doing very well.”
She added: “Initially, I was in two minds. I thought it might have been too embarrassing for him to say anything or he might have been upset, but now I think the opposite.
“He was cracking jokes the whole time and it seemed phoney.
“It felt like it was ‘look at me’ and ‘it doesn’t affect me’. He could have been more serious and said he’s thinking of them.”
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The £30,000-a-table awards night, described by a top ex-Army officer as “celebrities massaging each other’s egos”, took place three days after Princess of Wales Kate was admitted to the London Clinic.
She will remain there under supervision until the end of the month.
Husband William has visited her every day.
Aides last night said work on causes close to her heart — such as her focus on children’s early development — would not stall.
One said: “Knowing her, I don’t envisage that will be the case. Her passion for the early years is clear.”
King Charles is also out of action as he prepares for surgery this week on his enlarged prostate.
Royal expert and commentator Phil Dampier said Harry’s failure to allude to them showed the royals are “further apart than ever”.
He said: “It’s possible that Harry and Meghan have sent good wishes in private but you would have thought Harry would have taken the public opportunity to wish both his father and sister-in-law well.
“He must know that people are wondering whether he’s been in touch and therefore you’d imagine he would take the chance to make it clear that he is supporting them.”
Harry entered the awards night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel through a rear loading bay.
Meghan had been expected to join him but stayed at home as one of their children — Archie, four, and Lilibet, two — was reportedly unwell.
The Prince appeared to be in good spirits when he collected his award for services to the British Army from event host John Travolta.
He hugged the Hollywood star, who famously danced with Harry’s mum Princess Diana at the White House in 1985, before taking to a podium for his acceptance speech.
“This is nice,” he said, smoothing down the ribbon of his medal.
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“Thanks very much, Captain John. I was one year old when you danced with my mum.
“As you’ve told everybody here and continue to dine out on that probably every single night.
“But look at us now. It’s great. So if we’re not going to dance together, we’ll fly together.”
To audience laughter, the Duke appeared to hold his hand up to jokingly to dismiss Travolta, saying: “Thank you, that’s it, we’re done.”
Travolta, the Official Ambassador of Aviation, had recommended Harry be inducted as one of the “Living Legends” for his flying during military tours in 2007 and 2012.
The Duke described his time in the air in Afghanistan as “being up in God’s playground”. Grease and Saturday Night Fever star Travolta asked him: “What can you remember about your first flight?”
He joked in reply: “It’s classified.”
Harry, who previously sparked outrage by boasting of killing 25 Taliban fighters on his tours, said: “For me, flying has been a transcendent experience.
“A close encounter with magic, an invitation to both protect freedom . . . to feel free and, funnily enough, an opportunity to ground oneself, without actually being grounded. I find my flight training, which was over the course of three years, one of life’s greatest lessons.”
However, the award caused controversy among some military figures.
Retired Col Richard Kemp, a former British Army officer, said the ceremony was about “celebrities massaging each other’s egos”.
He added: “I can think of many people who did pretty extraordinary things serving in the British and American Armed Forces who are much more deserving of an award like this.”
Col Kemp said Harry had been honoured “because of who he is — not what he did”.
He added: “An Apache is crewed by two people — a pilot and a gunner. Harry was a gunner. He was number two in the aircraft.
“If he’d done anything comparable to some of the people who did some incredible things, I’m sure we would’ve heard about it. This cheapens the award.”
Previous recipients of the honour — in its 21st year — include astronaut Neil Armstrong and actors Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford.
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A few hours before the event Harry withdrew a libel lawsuit against the Mail on Sunday relating to an article about his fight with the Home Office for full royal security protection.
A spokesman said his focus remained on his family’s safety and his action against the Home Office.
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Kate's work to fill duties
KATE carried out more royal engagements in the past two years than each of the five before, Sun on Sunday research reveals.
She attended 134 charity events, visits, ceremonies and meetings in 2023 and 138 the year before while continuing to champion her Centre for Early Childhood.
In 2018, she did 87 — with the work spread between 15 Royal Family members, rather than 11 last year.
It means she was at 5.9 per cent of royal engagements in 2023 — up from 2.29 per cent in 2018.
She also carried out 105 duties in 2017, 126 in 2019, 108 in 2020 and 123 in 2021.
The figures underline the gaps left by the absence of Harry, Meghan and Andrew — and now King Charles and Kate herself due to their health concerns.
Must fill void
By Robert Jobson
THE King grasped the urgency of reforming the monarchy long before wearing the crown.
He knew it would mean making it more efficient and transparent and has started reorganising the top-heavy royal household staff.
But the double health crisis of him and the Princess of Wales has illuminated the need for more royals to fill the void left by those retreating from their duties.
Harry and Meghan’s exit left a gap — but Anne, Edward and Sophie have stepped up.
With fewer royals available, the workload has shifted.
The princess’ health is a priority — but we wish her a speedy recovery.
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