The royal family reportedly denied Harry because he no longer represents the Queen, but new allegations suggest palace officials deliberately leaked the news to “humiliate” Harry.
Taking to Twitter, royal commentator and co-author of Finding Freedom Omid Scobie re-shared a tweet that accuses the palace of trying to shame Harry, before the author weighed in on the claims.
“They reject Prince Harry’s request to lay a wreath of Remembrance + for some reason felt the need to make it public. For why? To let us know he wasn’t welcome? Humiliate him? This is spectacularly cruel,” the tweet read.
Omid then commented: “This whole incident just seems unnecessarily disrespectful and unkind.”
Harry, who spent 10 years in the armed forces, spoke about why the memorial is so important to him on the Declassified podcast, so the snub would no doubt have been a tragic blow.
“Remembrance Day for me is a moment for respect and for hope. Respect for those who came before us and hope for a safer world,” Harry said.
“The act of remembering, of remembrance, is a profound act of honour.”
“It’s how we preserve the legacies of entire generations and show our gratitude for the sacrifices they made in order for us to be able to live the lives we live today,” he said.
Omid, who has worked closely with the Sussexes over the past few years, later spoke about the snub on the latest episode of the Heir Pod podcast, in which he labelled the decision to deny Harry as odd given his service to the military.
“It is a decision that has been controversial,” Omid began, referring to the reaction being expressed among the wider military community.
“Harry served in the army for ten years, rose to the rank of Captain, served two tours in Afghanistan, and dedicated his life to serving the military community… this is a huge part of this life.”
“To see him denied of this honour of having this wreath placed in his name was hard news for many. I was uncomfortable reading the story,” he said.
Omid then suggested Her Majesty could have “bent the rules” for her grandson if she wanted to.
He explained: “After wreaths are laid by senior members of the royal family and prime ministers, there are wreaths laid by charities and organisations that support the military and veteran communities.”
“Harry is someone who is very much part of that. I’m not sure how there couldn’t have been a compromise made to accommodate one of the more prominent royal war veterans of our time.”
Omid then labelled the snub “not a great look” before addressing the reports of palace aids, who allegedly spilled the news of the wreath snub to media.
“What is more surprising is that someone in the monarchy decided to give that information that this wreath has been denied to one of the most read British newspapers.”
“It puts out this very personal information for public consumption, and takes away from a moment that only focuses on war veterans.”
“I don’t think people would have been asking ‘where is Harry’s wreath?’ If the subject hadn’t have come up on the pages of the Sunday Times,” he said.