Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have repeatedly voiced their criticisms of the royal family in public – and it hasn’t sat well with some of his former friends
From the infamous Oprah interview to their Netflix show and his tell-all memoir Spare, Prince Harry hasn’t held back in his criticism of his family.
The Duke and his wife Meghan Markle have made repeated attacks on the royals since stepping down from the Firm in January 2020 – and it doesn’t sit well with his former friends. One such person to speak out against the couple is former marine commando Ben McBean, who lost his left arm and had his right leg amputated above the knee after being seriously injured by a landmine blast in Afghanistan in 2008.
He famously shared a flight home with Harry, who was serving at the same time, and later described Ben as a “hero”. But Ben has let his feelings be known when it comes to his opinions of the Prince’s more recent actions. The ex-solider is one of a number of people close to the couple to appear in a new German documentary, from award-winning filmmaker Ulrike Grunewald, titled Harry – the Lost Prince.
In it, Ben discusses Harry’s repeated attacks on the royals, and admitted: “I just thought, with him kind of whinging about his family and he was saying something about his brother pushing him over or something like that, I was just like, ‘Mate, just leave it out’.
“You and your brother had a little fisticuffs…but family’s family, you know. If one of my friends fell out with his partner and started posting things on social media and saying my ex is this and that, I’d have told him to shut up as well.”
Ben is by no means the only friend Harry has lost along the way following his exit from royal life. Daily Mail reporter Rebecca English previously wrote: “I was told of one former confidant, who for many years couldn’t have been closer to Harry, who was so disgusted by his behaviour – and, in particular, by some of the things he apparently said privately about his family – that they vowed never to talk to him again. And they haven’t.”
Other sources have said some of Harry’s mates have taken issue with Meghan and her influence on the former fun-loving Prince – as such, they no longer want to spend time with the royal. Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond said: “I think we can say that it must be tough for Harry to have lost touch with virtually all his old circle of friends as well as his family. But we must assume that he feels that sacrifice is worth it for the life he now has with the woman he loves and the children he adores.”
