PRINCE Harry’s speech is proof that the royals are “further apart than ever”, a royal expert has claimed.
The Duke of Sussex accepted the “Living Legend of Aviation” award at a ceremony hosted by John Travolta in Beverly Hills, California, on Friday.
The speech marked Harry’s first public appearance since Kate Middleton’s abdominal surgery and King Charles’ enlarged prostate diagnosis – neither of which were mentioned in his speech.
Royal expert and commentator Phil Dampier claimed that Harry’s deafening silence on his father and sister-in-law’s health showed the royals are “further apart than ever”.
He said: “It’s possible that Harry and Meghan have sent good wishes in private but you would have thought Harry would have taken the public opportunity to wish both his father and sister-in-law well.
“He must know that people are wondering whether he’s been in touch and therefore you’d imagine he would take the chance to make it clear that he is supporting them.”
‘A deliberate snub’
A written version of his speech, seen by The Sun on Sunday, included no word of the double royal health scare.
It is not known if Harry mentioned it privately but he was at the bash for only a short time.
Royal biographer Angela Levin said: “He just needed to say one sentence. I actually think it’s horrible and disrespectful that he didn’t.
“It was a deliberate snub — to prove that he’s independent and doing very well.”
She added: “Initially, I was in two minds. I thought it might have been too embarrassing for him to say anything or he might have been upset, but now I think the opposite.
“He was cracking jokes the whole time and it seemed phoney.
“It felt like it was ‘look at me’ and ‘it doesn’t affect me’. He could have been more serious and said he’s thinking of them.”
The £30,000-a-table awards night, described by a top ex-Army officer as “celebrities massaging each other’s egos”, took place three days after Princess of Wales Kate was admitted to the London Clinic.
She will remain there under supervision until the end of the month.
Husband William has visited her every day.
Aides last night said work on causes close to her heart — such as her focus on children’s early development — would not stall.
One said: “Knowing her, I don’t envisage that will be the case. Her passion for the early years is clear.”
King Charles is also out of action as he prepares for surgery this week on his enlarged prostate.
Harry entered the awards night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel through a rear loading bay.
Meghan had been expected to join him but stayed at home as one of their children — Archie, four, and Lilibet, two — was reportedly unwell.
The Prince appeared to be in good spirits when he collected his award for services to the British Army from event host John Travolta.
He hugged the Hollywood star, who famously danced with Harry’s mum Princess Diana at the White House in 1985, before taking to a podium for his acceptance speech.
“This is nice,” he said, smoothing down the ribbon of his medal.
“I was one years old when you danced with my mum, as you told everybody here and continue to dine out on that probably every single night. But look at us now,” Harry said of the iconic moment.
“If we’re not going to dance together, we’ll fly together.”
‘Cheapens the award’
However, the award courted controversy among some military figures.
Retired Col Richard Kemp, a former British Army officer, said the ceremony was about “celebrities massaging each other’s egos”.
He added: “I can think of many people who did pretty extraordinary things serving in the British and American Armed Forces who are much more deserving of an award like this.”
Col Kemp said Harry had been honoured “because of who he is — not what he did”.
He added: “An Apache is crewed by two people — a pilot and a gunner. Harry was a gunner. He was number two in the aircraft.
“If he’d done anything comparable to some of the people who did some incredible things, I’m sure we would’ve heard about it. This cheapens the award.”
Previous recipients of the honour — in its 21st year — include astronaut Neil Armstrong and actors Tom Cruise and Harrison Ford.
