Prince Harry's ongoing legal battles. Word on the street is Princess Eugenie isn't too pleased with her cousin Harry right now and has finally broken her silence on the matter. Let's recap what started this apparent rift. As we all know by now, over the last year, Harry and Meghan have made some bold claims in the media about their struggles as senior working royals before stepping back from duties. They alleged racism within the royal household and said they received no support from the family regarding the constant abuse hurled at Meghan by the British tabloids.
Among the many controversial statements, Harry specifically claimed in their Oprah interview last year that after announcing their intention to step back, the couple were told they could not use the word "Royal" in their branding or work because it would undermine the monarchy. However, this has now been disputed by royal sources.
Just last month, Harry doubled down on his privacy claims by suing the UK government for denying his requests for police protection during visits to Britain. That's when things started getting messy with Eugenie. In his lawsuit filings, Harry's legal team decided to drag Eugenie into the matter by citing her royal protection as an example. Court documents stated Eugenie received taxpayer-funded security on a private trip to Portugal last year, implying that if she could have it, then so should Harry on his trips.
However, sources close to Eugenie say she was livid over being used in this way without permission. Apparently, Eugenie has remained fairly neutral in public about Harry's claims up until now out of family loyalty. But dragging her private travel into a high-profile legal dispute crossed the line for the usually low-key princess. Multiple sources say Eugenie let Harry know in no uncertain terms how inappropriate and hurtful his legal team's actions were towards her.
She feels he has continually misrepresented the reality behind certain family dynamics for the sake of his own narratives and interviews, like over the so-called "Royal" branding dispute, and using her as an example without consent in his ongoing lawsuit has damaged her position and reputation without cause.
Eugenie is understood to feel immense frustration over constantly having to field questions about Harry's versions of events that do not match her experiences within the family. She has worked hard over the years to stay out of the public family dramas and live as normal a life as possible after leaving the working royal sphere, but Harry's actions have dragged her right back into the noise repeatedly against her wishes.
Sources say a fuming Eugenie has now penned a harshly worded letter to Harry, laying out her grievances and demanding he stop misrepresenting situations involving her without permission. She has also allegedly point-blank asked him to refrain from publicly leveraging the royal connections of those who have remained neutral for the sake of his ongoing disputes and narratives.
With Eugenie reportedly at her wits' end over constantly feeling used by Harry's recollections without regard for how they impact her, some experts are now speculating if this could mark a permanent turning point in their once very close relationship. Only time will tell how or if they can repair the growing rift, but one thing is for certain: Harry's bombshell media moves continue creating waves of family fallout back in Britain that may take years to resolve.
