Harry is facing a furious backlash amid claims of political interference after he urged people in the US to “reject hate speech” and vote in the presidential elections. In a video released last night, he said: “As we approach this November, it’s vital that we reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity.” Meghan Markle also urged Americans to vote in the “most important election of our lifetime”.
But a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “The Duke is not a working member of the Royal Family and any comments he makes are made in a personal capacity.”
Harry remains sixth in line to the throne despite stepping down as a senior working royal, and members of the royal family traditionally do not vote or become involved in elections or political matters.
Broadcaster Piers Morgan condemned Harry for his remarks, tweeting: “Prince Harry poking his woke nose into the US election & effectively telling Americans to vote against President Trump is completely unacceptable behaviour for a member of the Royal Family.”
A source close to Harry insisted the duke was not referring to US President Donald Trump nor any other individual when he made the remarks.
The source said: “The duke was talking about the tone of debate in the run-up to an election which is already quite febrile.
“He is not talking about any candidate or specific campaign.
“He is building on a lot of stuff that he’s said before about online communities, how we engage with each other online, rather than specifically making any political points.”
Harry reminded Americans to be discerning in terms of the content they consume online.
He said: “When the bad outweighs the good, for many, whether we realise it or not, it erodes our ability to have compassion and our ability to put ourself in someone else’s shoes.
“Because when one person buys into negativity online, the effects are felt exponentially. It’s time to not only reflect, but act.”
Mr Trump, who is campaigning for re-election, has often been criticised for using inflammatory language, and in August, Facebook deleted one of his posts for the first time for violating its policy against spreading misinformation about coronavirus.
Twitter began labelling Mr Trump’s tweets with fact checks in May.
The 36-year-old duke said he would not vote in the election as he was not a US citizen and confirmed he had never voted in a UK elections.
His grandmother the Queen, as a constitutional head of state, is politically neutral.
BREAKING NEWS. MORE FOLLOWS…
