One of Prince Harry’s childhood friends, Hugh van Cutsem, has appeared on the hit TV show Clarkson’s Farm alongside Jeremy Clarkson – but despite once being close to the Duke of Sussex, it seems they are now embroiled in a rift
Growing up, Prince Harry had a tight-knit circle he could depend on that included some of his oldest and closest pals.
And among them was Hugh van Cutsem, the son of a close friend of King Charles, who was not only a mate of Harry but also grew close to Prince William. But it seems Harry’s longstanding friendship with Hugh has turned sour after a series of events – the latest being Hugh’s starring role in the hit TV show Clarkson’s Farm. The documentary features Jeremy Clarkson, the former Top Gear host who was forced to apologise after writing a scathing newspaper column last year in which he said he ‘hated’ Harry’s wife Meghan Markle on “a cellular level”.
Hugh is introduced in the latest series as a deer stalking expert – and after fans worked out who he is, it has thrown his friendship with Harry back into the spotlight. Hugh, 49, is the son of the late Hugh van Cutsem senior, a close friend of Charles.
Hugh and his three brothers, Edward, Nicholas and William, are all known to have had a close relationship with William and Harry – so much so that Nicholas is a godfather to Prince Louis and his daughter Florence is one of Harry’s godchildren. William van Cutsem is a godparent to Prince George.
Hugh married wife Rose Astor in 2005 and they have three children together – one of whom made headlines at William and Kate’s wedding in 2011. Their eldest, Grace – also William’s goddaughter – was a bridesmaid on the big day and became an internet sensation when she appeared on the balcony with a scowl on her face, covering her ears while the newlyweds shared their first public kiss. The couple also share sons Rafe and Charles, who was a Page of Honour for King Charles’s State Opening on Parliament in November.
When Harry first started dating Meghan, Hugh and Rose were said to have had dinner parties with the pair and were guests at their wedding in May 2018. But just two years later, there were signs that all was not well in their relationship.
In 2020, shortly after Harry and Meghan sensationally quit their royal roles, Rose appeared to mock the Sussexes in a social media post. Seemingly alluding to Harry and Meghan’s statement when announcing they were stepping back, she said: “I am standing back as a senior member of my tax return because I’d rather drink coffee, see my friends, love my family and do yoga.”
She later declined to discuss her comments, explaining, via the Daily Mail: “I’m so sorry, I can’t say anything. I’m sure you understand. I’m going to be in so much trouble.”
Then in Harry’s own memoir, he alluded to tension between him and the van Cutsems in his memoir Spare. In the book, he admitted he fell out with some of his old pals after he railed against his royal relatives in his and Meghan’s infamous tell-all chat with Oprah Winfrey.
Confirming the rift with the family, especially Hugh’s mum Emilie, he wrote: “Several close mates and beloved figures in my life, including one of Hugh and Emilie’s sons, Emilie herself, and even Tiggy [Pettifer, his former nanny], had chastised me for Oprah. How could you reveal such things? About your family?’
“How could you reveal such things? About your family? I told them that I failed to see how speaking to Oprah was any different from what my family and their staff had done for decades – briefing the press on the sly, planting stories.”
Months later, royal expert and correspondent Rebecca English also talked about how there were some in Harry’s friendship circle who were “genuinely disgusted” that he dished on his family. Speaking on the Daily Mail’s royal show Palace Confidential, she explained: “From what I hear, there are a lot of people who are genuinely disgusted by what he’s done since leaving the Royal Family. They feel very hurt by some of the revelations that he’s made. As they were growing up, William and Harry created a very close-knit circle of friends around each other.
“There was almost a kind of omertà between them. There are people who said: ‘We’ve been very loyal to him over the years and we don’t feel that loyalty’s been repaid’.”