Harry delivers his own royal snub

The Duke of Sussex insisted “just call me Harry” as he returned to the UK for one of his final engagements before Megxit.

The royal seemed in good spirits as he gave an ecowarrior speech at a sustainable travel conference in Edinburgh on Wednesday, The Sun reported.

The 35-year-old arrived in Britain last night – his first time back home after announcing he and wife Meghan Markle were quitting as royals and moving to Canada.

And the event’s host Ayesha Hazarika, editor of the Londoner Diary, told the crowd: “He’s made it clear we are all just to call him Harry”.
 

 

 

 

 

 

The comment comes after it was revealed Harry and Meghan would not be using their “Sussex Royal” brand after they quit the Firm to become financially independent and live in North America.

RELATED: Harry and Meghan to stop using Sussex Royal

However, Prince Harry will remain sixth-in-line to the throne and retain his HRH status – although he won’t use it.

Despite the tumultuous weeks of negotiations, Harry seemed happy as he chatted to those attending the event, stopping and shaking hands with a number of guests.

He appeared comfortable as he took to the stage to promote his Travalyst scoring system initiative that shows the eco-friendly status of aviation, accommodation and holiday experiences.
 

Speaking to the crowd, he praised travel as being at the “heart of human experience” but said he hoped the system would be a catalyst for “positive change” in the industry.

Sticking to his written script, he said: “We want to hear truths and perspectives from across the industry. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, a lot of great work has already been done.

“But our research again shows that many of these endeavours have failed to reach the conscientiousness of consumers.”
 

 

 

 

Meghan and Harry last year faced criticism after taking four private jet flights over 11 days while preaching over the importance of the environment.

But when launching Travalyst Amsterdam last autumn, he defended his use of private planes, saying he spent “99 per cent of my life” using commercial flights, but occasionally needed to ensure “my family are safe”.

It’s the first time that Prince Harry has made a public appearance since attending the Rugby League World Cup event at Buckingham Palace – hosted just days after crunch talks with the Queen at Sandringham.
 

 

RELATED: Harry and Meghan ‘may snub’ Princess Beatrice’s wedding

RELATED: Queen’s complete slap down of Meghan and Harry revealed

On Wednesday morning (local time), the Sussex Royal Instagram account said the prince wanted to hear what Scotland was doing to put “sustainability at the forefront of holidays”.

The post added: “The number of tourists globally is rapidly rising, and based on an increasing desire from travellers, The Duke’s international partnership Travalyst is working to ensure the industry can better support communities that face increasing challenges of overcrowding, pollution, and the climate emergency.

“Supporting these communities means preserving these destinations for everyone.”

Harry founded the Travalyst coalition along with brands including Booking.com, Skyscanner, Tripadvisor, Trip.com and Visa.
 

 

HARRY BACK HOME

Prince Harry was pictured at Edinburgh’s Waverley Station wearing a baseball cap and jeans after arriving back in Britain on Tuesday night.

It is unclear if he arrived back in the UK with Meghan and son Archie, or if they remain in Canada. But next week, the couple will attend the Endeavour Fund Awards in London while Prince William and Kate Middleton are in Ireland.
 

 

 

 

A senior source told Sun Online: “While William fully respects Harry’s right to come back whenever he wants – indeed he is glad that he is returning, however briefly – he wishes that it wasn’t at the same time as his Irish trip because he knows what will happen is that the spotlight as far as papers and TV are concerned will be fully on Harry and Meghan.

“He recognises that for the media this will be ‘the big story’.

“It’s not that he and Kate would be jealous of all that coverage – they’re simply not like that – but their tour of Ireland is an important one, and he would have hoped it would get due media prominence.”
 

 

Kate and William’s trip to Ireland will be the first tour carried out by any member of the Royal Family after Brexit.

The source added: “This sort of diary error would simply not have happened in the days before Harry decided to bail out of royal life.

“That’s why members of the royal family have private secretaries – and a grid system, similar to the Government’s method – to ensure that coverage of important events doesn’t clash.

“It’s a nightmare as far as staff are concerned because there is no longer any control over Harry – he has nobody now working for him who has proper experience of the methods and protocol of the court system.

“Presumably he is now relying on some flash PR person more used to the American entertainment world, more Hollywood than Windsor, who is not going to respect the views of the rest of the royal family.”
 

 

 

 

The Sussexes will conduct a string of engagements over the next few days, including Harry meeting with Jon Bon Jovi to promote the Invictus Games.

Although some unintentional crossovers have occurred in the past, royal author Katie Nicholl revealed clashes were typically avoided by courtiers to prevent “competition” between the Sussexes and Cambridges.

She said: “I think that’s why couriers can avoid diary clashes they will, because they’ll be keen to avoid any sense of competition between the couples.”

On Monday, Kensington Palace announced details of the trip to Ireland, saying: “Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit Ireland from Tuesday 3rd March to Thursday 5th March 2020.

“This visit is at the request of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.”

 

 

As part of the Megxit deal, Harry must ditch his honorary military positions for at least 12 months.

They have been allowed to keep their HRH titles but have been forced to accept that they will not use them publicly as they tout for business around the globe.

The Sussexes have already agreed to repay the $4.8 million of taxpayers’ money used to refurbish their Frogmore Cottage home in Windsor and are expected to pay a commercial rent for it of about $60,000 a month.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced here with permission.