- Prince Harry was reportedly tricked into accepting prank phone calls, during which he revealed details about his feelings toward stepping away from royal life.
- The Duke of Sussex reportedly thought he was talking to known environmental activist Greta Thunberg and her father, when really Russian pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov were on the line. The recorded conversations were leaked to British media yesterday.
- Representatives for the Sussexes have not confirmed if Harry was indeed the voice on the leaked conversations.
Prince Harry has reportedly fallen victim to a pair of prank phone calls from known Russian hoaxers, leading the duke to allegedly reveal his private thoughts on leaving royal life behind, among other things.
According to People, the Duke of Sussex thought he was taking private phone calls from young environmental activist Greta Thunberg and her father, Svante Thunberg, when in actuality he was speaking with known Russian hoaxers Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov. The phone calls reportedly took place on New Year's Eve and January 22. Per Good Morning America, Kuznetsov and Stolyarov have previously pranked the likes of Elton John and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
Based on transcripts from the British media, Harry opened up about why he decided to step back from the royal family and why marrying into the monarchy has its downside.
"Sometimes the right decision isn't always the easy one, but it was the right decision for our family. I think there's a hell of a lot of people around the world that can identify and respect us for putting our family first. It's a tricky one, but we will start a new life," Harry reportedly said during the conversation. "I can assure you marrying a prince or princess is not all it's made out to be. There's lots of layers to it and lots of pieces to the puzzle."
The duke continued to assure that even though it was a difficult decision to step away from the royal family, he and Meghan seemingly have no regrets.
"Oh no, I think it's much better," quipped Harry. "You forget, I was in the military for 10 years so I'm more normal than my family would like to believe."
Chris Jackson//Getty Images
Aside from commenting on his upcoming new chapter, Harry also reportedly shared his opinions on President Donald Trump and his disgraced uncle, Prince Andrew.
The phone call hoax marks yet another breach of the royal's privacy, especially after he and Meghan have been vocal about feeling violated by the press and mistrusting the British tabloid media. Just last year, the Duke of Sussex sued the owner of The Sun and former owner of The Mirror for hacking and intercepting his private voicemails.
Representatives for the Sussexes have not confirmed whether or not Harry was indeed speaking in the leaked conversations.
Bianca Betancourt is the culture editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com, where she covers all things film, TV, music, and more. When she's not writing, she loves impulsively baking a batch of cookies, re-listening to the same early-2000s pop playlist, and stalking Mariah Carey's Twitter feed.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qa3RqZyrq5KWx6Kt0WeaqKVfmLKtscGroK2xX6GutbHSrWaaa2FpfXF8l2pmqaqZo7CmeceaqauxXaW%2ForrKZqehp56aeqSty6Vkq62jqLaiuoyhppqwlafAcA%3D%3D