An insensitive Halloween costume. Traumatizing statements from Prince Charles.
The family member he had it out with before his wedding to Meghan.
Keep watching as we break down the shadiest things about Prince Harry.
If you keep up with the royal family even a little, the first item on our list won't come as a
surprise. In fact, until he married Meghan Markle, Prince Harry was probably best known for his 2005
Halloween costume. That year, the prince attended a party dressed as a Nazi, and, as
you can imagine, it did not go well, though Harry soon publicly apologized, saying in a statement,
"I am very sorry if I caused any offense or embarrassment
to anyone. It was a poor choice of costume and I apologize."
Though the world has moved on, the stunt is apparently still causing conflict within the
royal family. Rumor has it that Harry and Prince William are still at odds over the incident.
According to royal biographers, William allegedly knew of Harry's plan to wear the costume,
thought it was hilarious, and even encouraged him to do so,
according to the Daily Mail. He then had a good laugh when Harry got in trouble.
As you can imagine, if the rumors are true,
there was a lot of resentment on Harry's end after allegedly feeling set up by his brother.
Growing up, Prince William was under a lot more pressure than Prince Harry.
After all, William is heir to the throne, and Harry is not. Given that he wasn't under the same
amount of pressure or scrutiny, Harry developed a reputation as a bad boy prince. He was frequently
spotted leaving trendy London nightclubs, getting in fights, and smoking cigarettes.
Then there were the times he was caught playing strip poker in Las Vegas and getting so drunk
he fell into a pool fully clothed. Things reached a peak in 2002 when Prince Charles
allegedly caught the teenager smoking weed and sent him to a rehab facility for a day
to understand how the other half lives, according to The Guardian.
Before you start thinking that Harry was just a vapid partier, though,
know he's recently opened up about how he used drugs and alcohol to cope with the trauma he
suffered growing up in the spotlight, especially after his mother's death.
"I was so angry with what happened to her."
While being interviewed for The Me You Can't See, Harry said,
"I was willing to drink, I was willing to take drugs,
I was willing to try and do the things that made me feel less like I was feeling."
“And I would find myself drinking, not because I was enjoying it,
but because I was trying to mask something."
Following his disastrous Halloween costume, Prince Harry started straightening up— for a time.
Unlike his older brother, Harry didn't need to train to be king,
so, with not much to do after graduation, he joined the army and started earning some respect.
"It's very easy to completely forget about who I am when I'm in the Army.
I am one of the guys. I don't get treated any differently."
People were generally supportive of his endeavor, however, things came crashing down when audio of
Harry using a racial slur to refer to a Pakistani soldier was leaked. The prince immediately
apologized and the palace released a statement claiming that — while definitely inappropriate —
Harry had only referred to the soldier in an endearing way, according to The Guardian.
However, that was not the only time Harry was caught using racist language while in
the military. Soon after the audio of his remarks about his friend leaked, a video was
released that showed him flying a plane and referring to someone using an ethnic slur.
The palace claimed that, too, was a misunderstanding and assured
Harry was talking about an Iraqi insurgent, not a British citizen.
Prince Harry's recent falling out with his brother, Prince William, has definitely
raised some eyebrows. Though the only people who really know what happened are Harry and William,
the list of fan theories about the falling out is long. Some say it has everything to do with
William not supporting Harry's marriage. Others think William encouraged the press to focus on
Meghan Markle to avoid any negative press for himself or his own family. William reportedly
thinks Harry threw their family under the bus by airing their dirty laundry, according to Glamour.
"My father and my brother, they are trapped."
After Harry's interview with Oprah, a source told Us Weekly,
"William feels that Harry has gotten too big for his boots since moving to
California — that success and Hollywood have gone to his head. He's already accused [Harry]
of putting fame over family after the big interview."
The brothers reportedly spoke after the interview and it did not go well.
Over a year later, Harry and William still appear more distant than ever.
They've been spotted together a few times since Harry left,
though William has yet to meet Harry's daughter or visit Harry and Meghan
in Los Angeles. That likely won't change any time soon. The news isn't all bad, though.
Insiders think the brothers could work it out — it will just take time. A source told People,
"If they were in a room on their own, they would say they miss each other."
So maybe there's hope after all. In his younger days, Prince Harry wasn't
exactly Mr. World Peace. In fact, the troubled prince earned a reputation as a mean drunk,
thanks to the fights with paparazzi and fellow pub patrons that peppered his teenage years. In 2004,
only months before the Nazi costume incident, Harry got into a physical fight with the paparazzi
outside a trendy London night club. Harry's reps tried to get out in front
of the altercation by claiming that Harry was attacked by the paps while trying to sneak out
of the club unnoticed. A representative for the prince downplayed the incident, saying,
"Prince Harry was hit in the face by a camera as photographers crowded around him as he was getting
into a car. In pushing the camera away, it's understood that a photographer's lip was cut."
Unsurprisingly, the photographer in question remembered the incident differently.
He claimed Harry knowingly and deliberately attacked him.
There were other occurrences, too, including a night of heavy drinking that led to Harry being
banned from a bar for using a racial slur against the pub's owner. These days, Harry helms a therapy
startup, advocates for better mental health practices, and does plenty of charity work.
"Prince Harry has a new job."
You might recall that back in 2017 and 2018, leading up to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's
massive royal wedding, there were a slew of stories about Meghan being a total diva when
it came to wedding prep, the most infamous being the story about her making Kate Middleton cry,
though Meghan later claimed that wasn't true.
"No, the reverse happened."
If you were super wrapped up in the spectacle surrounding Meghan,
you might have missed the role Harry reportedly played in all the drama.
Rumor has it Harry had it out with Queen Elizabeth over Meghan's wedding day
demands. Meghan reportedly wanted a specific tiara for the big day, but the palace staff
was reluctant to lend it to her, likely because they didn't have the queen's permission,
according to The Mirror. Robert Lacey claimed in his biography, Battle of the Brothers,
that Harry completely lost his temper upon hearing "no" and screamed at a staffer,
"What Meghan wants, Meghan gets."
Wedding planning is always stressful, and more so if it's a royal affair. The Queen, however,
reportedly wasn't very sympathetic to any of the troubles facing the newlyweds.
Upon witnessing Harry's outburst at palace staff,
the queen allegedly firmly put her foot down, reportedly reminding him,
"Meghan gets what she is given by me."
'Megxit'
Though Prince Harry isn't the first royal to step away from The Firm,
and his departure doesn't really mean anything for the line of succession,
it was still a major surprise to those inside and outside of the palace.
"The golden couple have decided they're quitting."
The most shocking part of the decision, though, was the rumor that Harry and Meghan didn't even
give the queen a heads up before going rogue. Publications began claiming that neither Prince
Charles nor the queen were consulted and were therefore blindsided by the couple's decision,
according to The Washington Post. The formerly working royal couple
has adamantly denied this. In fact, Harry has gone so far as to claim that if he's
been isolated from his grandmother, it was through no fault of his own.
Harry told Oprah that the queen invited him over to discuss his and Meghan's desire to step away
from the family months before it was announced, but that the appointment was canceled last minute.
Harry alleged that when he called up his grandmother to reschedule, she was too busy
to see him. Though they didn't get the chance to meet, Harry maintained that any notion Elizabeth
didn't know about "Megxit" was ridiculous. We may never know the real story, but either way,
it's clear that Harry's departure didn't exactly endear him to the rest of his family.
It should come as little surprise that Prince Harry isn't exactly on the best
of terms with his family — especially his father. As any royal fanatic knows,
Prince Charles allegedly cut him off as soon as Harry publicly announced his plan
to end his royal duties, although in reality it was much later. Still you may not have known
that the conflict between the two runs way deeper than his relationship with Meghan.
In recent years, Harry has spoken at length about his complicated relationship with his dad.
When discussing his mental health issues and his battle with depression,
Harry claimed that many of his problems stemmed from his childhood, telling an interviewer,
"My father used to say to me when I was younger, [...] 'Well,
it was like that for me, so it's going to be like that for you.'"
Harry added that he felt trapped within his family. The prince was also quick to
point out that all that trauma came right back to Charles and the rest of the royal family, saying,
"It's incredibly triggering to potentially lose another woman in my life.
Like the list is growing, and it all comes back to the same people, the same business model."
Charles, as ever, has remained silent on the matter,
though their relationship is reportedly still icy, according to Vanity Fair.
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