Royal biographer Hugo Vickers has explained why Prince Harry cannot wear military uniform at Queen Elizabeth II’s vigil.
The expert discussed the matter during Tuesday’s (13 September) episode of Good Morning Britain.
On Monday (12 September), it was reported that the Duke of Sussex had been denied the chance to wear military uniform as he mourns the Queen, even though his disgraced uncle the Duke of York will be permitted to do so at the vigil.
Harry, who saw action on the front line during two tours of duty in Afghanistan, will be in civilian dress for official events, including the late monarch’s state funeral.
“What people might be thinking this morning, is why has Prince Harry been told he can, at no stage in this process, wear any military uniform or outfit,” GMB host Susanna Reid said, in conversation with Vickers, on Tuesday.
Noting that “things can change”, Vickers responded: “You must remember that [Harry] was given the option to, you know, hold onto his various positions for a year, and decide what he wanted to do.
“After that he decided to stay on in California. And, you know, you can’t be captain general of the Royal Marines if you’re living in California and you’re a guy in blue jeans basically. You know, you can’t do both. You need to be visible, you need to be there,” Vickers added.
Harry and Meghan stepped back from their roles as senior members of the royal family in March 2020 and relocated to California.
Since departing from the royal family, the duke and duchess have spoken candidly about the tense relationships they have with Prince Harry’s relatives, with the couple sharing a number of shocking claims with Oprah Winfrey about their time as working royals during a wide-ranging interview last year.
During Tuesday’s GMB episode, Reid also pointed out that an exception had been made for Andrew who, despite being stripped of his military titles, will wear a uniform as a “special mark of respect” for the Queen when he stands guard around her coffin during the Vigil of the Princes.
In response, Vickers said: “I mean, he certainly won’t be wearing Grand Air Guards’ uniform, that’s for certain. He presumably will wear a naval uniform, because he served in the Royal Navy.
“I’m not convinced that we really know, to be honest,” Vickers replied, amid the hosts’ speculation over why Andrew had been permitted to wear military uniform, but Harry had not.
“If you remember Prince Philips’ funeral, none of them wore uniform,” he pointed out, adding, “So that you’ve got this kind of uniformity, if you like, and they all wore mourning dress.
A source confirmed to The Independent that Harry – whose rank is a captain – would not be in uniform for any events.
Andrew stepped down from public life over his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and after he paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case brought against him by Virginia Giuffre.
The duke vehemently denies all allegations against him and has consistently claimed he has never met Ms Giuffre.
He reached a £10m settlement with her in February, including damages to Ms Giuffre and a donation to charity to stop the case proceeding to a civil trial.
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