A close friend of Prince Harry’s, who claims he has been authorized to speak on his behalf, has said the prince “has gone from being the great hope of the British royal family to being seen as a pariah.”
Alex Rayner, who was at Eton with Harry and has helped him set up charity polo tournaments, added that the prince was bereft after being forced to leave Sentebale, the AIDS charity he set up in memory of his mother, telling the Daily Mail: “The way he feels is as if he has had one of his fingers cut off.”
Rayner also claimed that Sophie Chandauka, the chairwoman of the charity who has accused Harry of harassment and bullying in a series of astonishing attacks, was jealous of Meghan Markle being present at a prize-giving event, saying: ‘It feels like [Chandauka] had her nose put out of joint because she was not the most important woman of color on the stage.”
If the comments really do faithfully represent Harry’s views, they mark an extraordinary escalation in hostilities between Harry and Chandauka. Harry’s spokesperson declined to comment on Rayner’s interview.
Rayner certainly suggested that was the case.
He told the Mail he had spoken to Harry in recent days and added: “H is very happy for me to speak for him about how he feels about this awful situation.”
Rayner, who joined Harry on a trip to the North Pole in 2012, said Harry is “heartbroken and flabbergasted” and “so upset and hurt and wounded about the things that are being said about him.”
He hit back at Chandauka’s allegation that Harry’s image after he left the royals and began trashing his family in public became a major problem for the charity, saying: “You cannot say that Harry’s brand is of no consequence to the charity, it simply does not stack up. Yes, he has gone from being the great hope of the British royal family to being seen as a pariah, but he still attracts a lot of exposure. And with a TV crew in tow—what sponsor would not want the global exposure?”
