Boris Johnson has revealed he attempted to talk Prince Harry out of leaving the UK with jis wife Meghan.
Early in January 2020, Harry and Meghan declared their intention to step down from their position as senior working royals, which shocked his family.
Harry made a moving statement at a charity event expressing his and Meghan's "great sadness" at leaving the royal family but said there was "no other option".
Mr Johnson has now disclosed how he was "made" to give Harry a "manly pep talk" only hours after Harry delivered the speech.
The revelation was made by the former prime minister in his memoir, Unleashed, which will be published on October 10 and which the Daily Mail is serialising. The paper quotes him as recalling: “A ridiculous business... when they made me try to persuade Harry to stay. Kind of manly pep talk.”
“Totally hopeless,” he added.
On the fringes of the government's UK-Africa Investment Summit, Mr Johnson and Prince Harry allegedly had a one-on-one meeting in the Thames Docklands for about 20 minutes. However, the conversation was ineffective, and, in June 2020, Harry and Meghan relocated to California.
The UK has had three prime ministers over the 26 months since then: Mr Johnson’s Tory successors Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, before Sir Keir Starmer won power for Labour in July.
As for Mr Johnson, he has made fleeting appearances but has not ignited his career in a long-lasting second (or even third or fourth) act.
July 2022 to present – public speaking/newspaper columns
A reliable source of work has been event and after-dinner speaking, and the former PM has reportedly commanded a £250,000 fee for some talks he has given.
Mr Johnson has also continued to earn a similar amount a year for writing a column for the Daily Mail.
The £275,000 a year figure he received for his now defunct contributions to the Telegraph was described once by Mr Johnson as “chicken feed”.
October 2022 – Tory leadership campaign
The first in a trilogy of October announcements was the news that Mr Johnson was cutting short his Caribbean holiday to fight to succeed Liz Truss as prime minister.
However, after returning, he decided against standing – paving the way for Mr Sunak to become Tory leader.
In June 2023, he stepped down as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip which means he will not be able to become party leader again unless he is re-elected.
October 2023 – GB News show announced but yet to be realised
In October 2023, GB News announced that Mr Johnson would be presenting a show and would earn a “six-figure salary”.
However, almost a year on, he has not presented anything on the channel and there has not been any confirmation of when it might start.
Summer 2024 – election appearances
Mr Johnson made minimal efforts to support Mr Sunak before the July 2024 general election but hit out at Sir Keir Starmer in one appearance.
He told an audience at the National Army Museum just before the election: “Just think, it was the other day when Keir Starmer was saying that Jeremy Corbyn would make a better prime minister than Boris.”
In May Mr Johnson caused a stir when he arrived at a polling station for a vote on selecting a police and crime commissioner for South Oxfordshire without ID and was turned away.
As prime minister, he had toughened the rules on voting to make personal identification required for voting.
October 2024 – own book to be released
Mr Johnson is set to release his memoir Unleashed with a publication date of October 10 and a £30 price tag.
“He takes readers through all the big decisions during his time in power and the reasons he took them,” reads the blurb.
“This is the reality as he saw it: unvarnished, uncensored, unleashed.”
He received a £510,000 advance for the project, according to the Guardian.
Tomorrow (and tomorrow, and tomorrow) – Shakespeare book
Mr Johnson’s take on the life of William Shakespeare is a so-far-unrealised but long-mooted project.
Shakespeare: The Riddle of Genius was originally to be published in 2016, the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s death but does not yet have a release date. Hodder & Stoughton is said to have given Mr Johnson an £88,000 advance in 2015.
To put this in perspective, Terry Gilliam began work on the 2018 film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote in 1989, while the newly released Francis Ford Coppola film Megalopolis was conceived 40 years ago.
So who knows?
