The rift between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and the rest of the British royal family has been “difficult for everyone”, Prince Edward has said.
Speaking on what would have been his father Prince Philip’s 100th birthday, Edward said all senior British royals had faced “excessive” media intrusion over the years, adding: “We’ve all dealt with it in slightly different ways.”
Asked by American news network CNN about the “family rift which is undeniably there”, Edward laughingly replied: “Are you euphemistically referring to Harry and Meghan?”
We’ve all had excessive intrusion and attention in our lives. We’ve all dealt with it in slightly different ways
He described the situation that saw the couple step back as senior royals as “very sad”, adding: “We’ve all been there before.”
“It’s very sad, weirdly we’ve all been there before – we’ve all had excessive intrusion and attention in our lives,” he said.
“We’ve all dealt with it in slightly different ways, and, listen, we wish them the very best of luck.
“It’s a really hard decision.”
Edward continued: “[It’s] fantastic news about the baby, that’s great. I hope they will be very happy and it’s just … families are families, aren’t they, really?”
Asked how his mother Queen Elizabeth is coping with the split on top of losing her husband, Edward said: “It’s difficult for everyone, but, as I said, that’s families for you.”
Royal rift
In a separate interview with the BBC, Edward was asked how he is coping with the royal rift.
He replied: “I stay well out of it. It’s much the safest place to be.”
Questioned whether he felt “any sadness” about how the situation had played out, he responded: “Of course. There are all sorts of issues and circumstances there, but we’ve all been through there.
“We’ve all had that same spotlight shone on our lives, we’ve all been subjected to massive intrusion and all the rest of it, and we all deal with it in different ways.”
And, referring to the birth of Harry and Meghan’s baby daughter, he added: “We just wish them all happiness, it’s fantastic news, and, absolutely, [we] hope they are very happy.”
