Buckingham Palace hits back at anonymous adviser to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Buckingham Palace has issued a calculated rebuke to the suggestion that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have ‘single-handedly modernised the monarchy’.

A senior courtier last night offered a carefully worded riposte to the couple’s unnamed adviser who made last week’s startling claim – with its implicit criticism of the rest of the Royal Family and their household.

The Sussexes’ aide also accused courtiers of stoking anti-Harry and Meghan hysteria and of being ‘afraid of and inexperienced at how to best help harness and deploy’ their potential.

But last night a senior Buckingham Palace aide warned of the dangers of expressing such sentiments publicly.

The insider told The Mail on Sunday: ‘There’s enough experience here – despite what was said – to know that people who jump in with comments from the sanctity of being unnamed and unidentifiable might think they are helping. But the family is clear that if there are issues to be discussed they will be discussed behind closed doors.’

Tom Bradby, a friend of Harry, 35, said he believed the couple were ‘bruised’ by life in the spotlight

The comment is a wounding blow to the adviser whose provocative comments to American TV network CNN followed last week’s ITV documentary, Harry & Meghan: An African Journey, in which the couple spoke to Tom Bradby about struggling to deal with negative media coverage. Mr Bradby, a friend of Harry, 35, said he believed the couple were ‘bruised’ by life in the spotlight.

In the film, the Duke conceded that the couple might leave the UK in the future. The couple are already planning to take six weeks off from Royal duties for some ‘much-needed family time’ but The Mail on Sunday has learned it may be the precursor to a much longer absence from Britain.

It is understood plans for the couple to spend up to six months abroad are being actively considered, with the United States the most likely destination.

The comment is a wounding blow to the adviser whose provocative comments to American TV network CNN followed last week’s ITV documentary, Harry & Meghan: An African Journey

A British diplomatic source in the US said: ‘Everything is fluid at the moment from the Government’s point of view but I wouldn’t be surprised if [Harry and Meghan] end up here. The way it is going in Britain at the moment, there is nothing for them to lose in leaving.’

In the report on CNN’s website on Tuesday, the adviser criticised ‘the hysterical reaction’ to comments Harry made during the documentary about being on a ‘different path’ from his brother William, and his admission the pair have ‘good days and bad days’. It led to headlines about 37-year-old William being ‘worried’ about his brother.

The BBC later said it had repeatedly tried to speak about the CNN report to Harry and Meghan’s communications secretary, Sara Latham, but received no response.

The comments were initially attributed to a ‘senior royal source’ but this was changed 90 minutes later to ‘a source’, which the network said was ‘to clarify the story’s attribution’. When The Mail on Sunday asked Ms Latham if she was the source, she said: ‘CNN issued a correction that the piece was not a royal source. I have no further comment.’

Harry and Meghan pictured with Archie during the ITV documentary Harry & Meghan: An African Journey 

The story caused widespread dismay in royal circles. One insider said: ‘It’s akin to saying that the Sussexes are too good for the Royal Family, which is extremely disrespectful to everyone who works for, and on behalf of, the Queen and other senior members of the Royal Family.’

Many aides – fearing a protracted internecine squabble – want to draw a line under the affair. ‘We’re not getting involved,’ said the Palace aide. ‘If people who think they are closer want to brief, that’s fine, but we’re not.’

Royal sources have sought to play down any notion that William was ‘angry’ that Harry was so candid during the documentary, with a friend saying he has ‘really made an effort’ to support his brother.