Prince Harry knew the type of reaction he would get after claiming he has a special relationship with the Queen, a royal expert has said.
Harry and wife Meghan Markle made a secret trip to Windsor from their home in California earlier this month to see the Queen and Prince Charles en route to the Invictus Games in the Netherlands.
And in an interview with American TV a few days after, Harry opened up about seeing his grandmother and said he has a special relationship with her.
He also said he wanted to make sure she had "the right people around her" and added that she can talk to him "about things she can't talk about with anybody else".
And according to the Sunday Times royal editor Roya Nikkhah, the remarks feel "quite incendiary".
She told True Royalty TV's The Royal Beat that it was "quite triggering probably for the rest of his family who are around the Queen all the time and who I am sure the Queen does confide in".
Roya added: "There is no doubting that Harry and his Granny have an incredibly special close relationship but to say to an American network - knowing that the comment is going to go round the world and come right back at your family - that the Queen tells Harry things that she feels she cannot tell any other member of her family who she sees much more regularly ... feels quite incendiary.
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"Harry probably knew the reaction that was going to get.”
Meanwhile, fellow royal expert Robert Jobson said that the comments were likely to be a wind up for his older brother Prince William.
He explained: "You know with his brother [William] that was a bit of a wind-up, to suggest he [Harry] was the special one.
"William has a great relationship with the Queen and is very close. In fact through the years, probably much closer because of the role he is going to play later on in life.”
Last week it was reported that Harry’s aides are making plans for him to be by the Queen’s side to attend the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Despite the Duke of Sussex publicly saying he has not decided whether to attend, his closest advisors believe he will want to go to fulfil his grandmother’s wish for him to join his family this summer.
Harry and Meghan’s attendance would cause a considerable headache for Buckingham Palace staff, amid a series of rifts that have intensified following Harry’s latest interview on American television.
One source said: “Harry is certainly in favour of going, so naturally plans are being put in place for him to make the trip should he want to confirm.
“There is the issue of security and the ongoing court case which needs to be sorted out.
“Previously it was a red line for Harry but there might be a resolution in the offering.
“Everything will hinge on that, but Harry loves seeing his grandmother and wants to spend time with her and his family.”
The Royal Beat - available on True Royalty TV.
