Prince Harry calls the Queen and Prince Philip 'the most adorable couple' in BBC tribute documentary

Prince Harry was slammed as ‘insincere’ by viewers after he hailed the Queen and Prince Philip ‘the most adorable couple’ in last night’s BBC tribute – after months of publicly criticising the Firm. 

The Duke of Sussex, 37, who is joining wife Meghan Markle in New York today for their first public trip since moving to California, made the remarks about his grandparents in Prince Philip: The Royal Family Remembers.

The film, Harry’s first ‘family project’ since moving to the US, saw the prince gush over his grandparents’ relationship and pay tribute to their 73-year marriage. 

But he was blasted a hypocrite by viewers, with one tweeting: ‘Having a hard time believing Harry’s words in this programme. If he loved his grandfather so much, would he have released that hatchet job of an interview while he was so ill in hospital?’

Another wrote: ‘I know they had to include Harry but it felt weird after he trashed them on primetime TV.’ 

Prince Harry (pictured) labelled the Queen and Prince Philip 'the most adorable couple' in last night's BBC documentary remembering the late Duke of Edinburgh

 Prince Harry (pictured) labelled the Queen and Prince Philip ‘the most adorable couple’ in last night’s BBC documentary remembering the late Duke of Edinburgh

The Duke of Sussex, 37, who is joining wife Meghan Markle in New York tomorrow for their first public trip since moving to California, made the remarks about his grandparents (pictured) in Prince Philip: The Royal Family Remembers

The Duke of Sussex, 37, who is joining wife Meghan Markle in New York tomorrow for their first public trip since moving to California, made the remarks about his grandparents (pictured) in Prince Philip: The Royal Family Remembers

A third wrote: ‘Why is Harry even on it when he showed such disrespect to his grandfather?’

Interviews were filmed before and after Prince Philip’s death in April, and were conducted separately, with Harry’s tribute filmed in the US where he lives with Meghan and their two children Archie, two, and three-month-old Lilibet. 

The Duke of Sussex said: ‘More than anything I miss his sense of humour. But I miss him more for my grandmother because I know how incredibly strong she was with him there. I also know she will be ok without him. ‘

He added: ‘The two of them together were just the most adorable couple. To me knowing the cheekiness of him and knowing that behind what the world sees you have two individuals who were very much in love and both, from a very young age, have dedicated their life to service… that is an incredible bond between two people.’

It marked a dramatic change of tone from his recent TV appearances, in which he has spoken of the ‘generational trauma’ he experienced as a member of the royal family.  

In appearances including his bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview with wife Meghan and The Me You Can’t See series on mental health for Apple TV+, the former royal has shared numerous shocking accusations.

He suggested his father, Prince Charles, had allowed his children to ‘suffer’ when it came to the media because of his own negative experiences. 

Social media users branded Prince Harry 'insincere' after he joined the royal family in paying tribute to the late Duke of Edinburgh

Social media users branded Prince Harry ‘insincere’ after he joined the royal family in paying tribute to the late Duke of Edinburgh

The prince then claimed the Royal Family treated Meghan with ‘total neglect’ while she was suicidal and said they had felt ‘bullied into silence’.

He also accused the monarchy and the media of attempting to ‘smear’ his wife in the run-up to the couple’s bombshell interview with Oprah.

Meanwhile, he has announced his upcoming memoir, promising to give an ‘accurate and wholly truthful’ account of his life, writing as ‘the man he has become.’

But Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, warned that Princess Diana’s youngest son could say ‘inappropriate things’ about the Firm in his book, with terrible consequences for Prince William, 39, the Express reported.

Reaction: Not all viewers took issue with Prince Harry appearing in the documentary, with one Twitter user writing 'he has done absolutely nothing wrong'.

Reaction: Not all viewers took issue with Prince Harry appearing in the documentary, with one Twitter user writing ‘he has done absolutely nothing wrong’.

During last night’s documentary, Harry was seen looking through flight logs from his grandfather – a qualified pilot – from a 1983 trip to Africa. 

Harry said: ‘He was doing all the flying himself, or certainly chunks of it. When you’re flying, you don’t get an easy pass just for being the Duke of Edinburgh. You very much have to put in the work and prove your skill.

‘But also he had an amazing privilege to get behind the controls and fly aircraft all around the world.

‘I can just imagine my grandmother sitting in the back of a plane having a cup of tea, going through turbulence and going “Oh Philip! What are you doing?”‘ 

Interviews were filmed before and after Prince Philip's death in April, and were conducted separately, with Harry's tribute filmed in the US where he lives with Meghan and their two children Archie, two, and three-month-old Lilibet. Pictured, Harry and Philip in 2014

 Interviews were filmed before and after Prince Philip’s death in April, and were conducted separately, with Harry’s tribute filmed in the US where he lives with Meghan and their two children Archie, two, and three-month-old Lilibet. Pictured, Harry and Philip in 2014

Elsewhere, the Duke of Sussex also spoke for the first time about how the Duke of Edinburgh gave him the space to talk about serving in Afghanistan.

Harry was twice deployed to Helmand province during the UK’s military operations, and he described in the BBC tribute programme how his grandfather would ‘never probe’ but listen.  

Harry said: ‘Going off to Afghanistan he was very matter of fact and just said, “Make sure you come back alive”… then when I came back, there wasn’t a deep level of discussion, more a case of, “Well you made it. How was it?” That’s how he was.

‘He was very much a listener, he sort of set the scene for you to be able to share as much as you wanted to share but he would never probe.’ 

Meanwhile, in the programme, William revealed how the Duke of Edinburgh would get his grandchildren to hold a tube of mustard in their hands and then take the lid off when they were BBQ-ing at Balmoral.

William laughingly recalled: ‘He would squish your hands together to fire the mustard up into the ceiling. 

‘He used to get into a lot of trouble with my grandmother for covering most of the places where we had lunch with mustard on the ceiling.’

His cousin, Peter Phillips, added that the marks are still there. 

Interviews began in early 2021 to celebrate Philip’s 100th birthday in June, but the programme has since become a moving tribute to the Queen’s husband after he slipped away peacefully on April 9, two months before his big day. 

All of those interviewed admitted that Philip was a man of his generation and upbringing – and didn’t suffer fools gladly.

Prince Charles described how his father would watching him play football as a child and shout from the sidelines: ‘Stop scratching your backside and do something!’

But all agreed that he was a man like no other and one that has left a huge void in their lives. 

William added: ‘He’s always been the heart of the family and he’s always been a huge presence behind everything we have done, really. 

‘It was very much a man world’s back then, so for a man to give up his career to support a woman, albeit the Queen, was still quite a big step.’   

source: dailymail.co.uk