Last week, the Daily Mail’s editors wept as they described Prince Harry’s absence from his friend’s wedding in the UK. The friend is Jack Mann, and his wedding was somewhere in the English countryside. It happened during the Fourth of July holiday weekend here in America, and clearly, Harry’s bigger priority was going to the Independence Day parade in Montecito with his wife and children. Harry’s absence was the headline in the Mail, just as his absence was the framing device for King Charles’s Scottish coronation. They truly believe that Harry should be desperately flying back and forth to the UK for every little thing. Well, Harry’s absence from Jack Mann’s wedding was the lead story for the Mail’s Palace Confidential thing, where they anxiously discussed the idea that Harry might not have the same BFFs he had six years ago. Gasp.
The Duke of Sussex’s absence from the wedding of one of his closest friends reflects the ‘sad situation’ Prince Harry finds himself in when it comes to those formerly closest to him, according to the Daily Mail’s Diary Editor Richard Eden.
‘We don’t know if Jack Mann’s become estranged from Harry or not, but in Harry’s memoirs, at the end he talks about how he was “chastised” – in his words – after the interview by some of his closest friends,’ he tells this week’s episode of Palace Confidential. ‘He’s done a lot of damage to those old relationships.’
The Daily Mail’s Royal Editor Rebecca English says that the fallout from his former friends has been profound.
‘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”’.
The Duke of Sussex stood shoulder to shoulder with Jack Mann and his other closest confederates in the ‘band of brothers’ photograph at Windsor Castle on the night of the royal wedding. Also in the snap were financier Adam Bidwell, PR guru Lord Vivian, car collector Henry Warhurst, nightclub entrepreneur Charlie Gilkes, Mann and Prince Harry’s long-time mentor Mark Dyer. And, after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s nuptials, it was suggested that Mann was not just one of the ushers but was, in fact, his ‘real’ best man, rather than Prince William. So there was disappointment at the weekend among royal fans that Harry and Meghan were not present at Mann’s own big day.
Let’s be real: the only “disgust” is coming from the palace and Windsor loyalists, because those are the people in Harry’s crosshairs. He hasn’t said sh-t about his friends, he hasn’t been “disloyal” to those people. The code of omerta he “broke” was the Windsor omerta, not the “Harry’s BFF omerta.” That being said, it’s abundantly clear that over the course of the past six years, Harry has learned which friends genuinely love him and want the best for him and which friends… aren’t like that at all. It would not surprise me if Harry used to have a lot of friends who expected him to be Peter Pan forever, to always be the funny, damaged guy who could never really get it together. I get it – it’s tough when your friend grows up and moves on and you haven’t. But again, that’s not Harry’s fault.
Photos courtesy of Netflix, Avalon Red.
Royal Courts of Justice, London, UK. 7th June 2023. Prince Harry arriving at the Royal Courts of Justice, for the second day of his lawsuit against The Mirror Group. The Duke of Sussex is suing Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) for damages over alleged unlawful information gathering, including phone hacking and is the first senior British royal to give evidence in court for 130 years.,Image: 781886519, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Supplied by AVALON – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Photo by Amanda Rose / Avalon 
Prince Harry The Duke Of Sussex departs The Rolls Building – Royal Courts Of Justice in London, England, UK on Wednesday 7 June, 2023 as part of the Mirror Group newspapers (MGN) phone hacking trial.,Image: 782000590, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon 
Prince Harry The Duke Of Sussex departs The Rolls Building – Royal Courts Of Justice in London, England, UK on Wednesday 7 June, 2023 as part of the Mirror Group newspapers (MGN) phone hacking trial.,Image: 782000612, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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