Harry and his wife Meghan Markle have faced a wave of criticism over the past few months as they have stepped into political spheres. The Duchess of Sussex was not shy about her opposition to Donald Trump during the last election, back in 2016, before she became an official royal. She dubbed the then Republican nominee “misogynistic” and “divisive”, and after several years of toeing the apolitical royal line, she has returned to politics.
She has mainly focused on the nonpartisan issue of voter registration.
While Harry has never been outspoken about politics before, he has accompanied his wife in appealing to the US public about rejecting “online negativity” in the run-up to the presidential election this week.
Due to his wife’s apparent dislike of Mr Trump, royal watchers have since made the assumption that the couple would be supporting his rival, Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
The Sussexes made a controversial joint appearance for ABC’s Time 100 special in September, where Meghan said the US would be seeing the “most important election of our lifetime”.
Harry said: “This election, I’m not going to be able to vote in the US.
“But many of you may not know that I haven’t been able to vote in the UK my entire life.
“As we approach this November, it’s vital that we reject hate speech, misinformation and online negativity.”
Despite the Duke of Sussex’s comments being distinctly less direct than his wife’s, it still raised eyebrows in royal circles.
READ MORE: Diana trauma led Harry and William to take drastically different paths
Yet, it is thought all of the royals follow the Queen’s lead and refrain from casting a vote in any election or referendum.
Even so, Mr Rogan claimed that for “nonvoter Harry” to discuss voting is therefore “the height of arrogance”.
He added: “Harry must also know that his words will infuriate Downing Street and Buckingham Palace.”
Royals are expected not to comment on foreign affairs because it could affect international relations.
This speech from the Sussexes clearly got under Mr Trump’s skin, as he went on to publicly bash Meghan afterwards.
The President said that he is “not a fan” of the Duchess, and “I wish a lot of luck to Harry because he’s going to need it”.
The Palace did also speak out after Harry’s comments were released, but only to distance itself from the Duke of Sussex.
A spokesman said: “The Duke is not a working member of the Royal Family and any comments he makes are made in a personal capacity.”
Writing in the Washington Examiner, Mr Rogan said: “Harry’s utility as a political persuader here is about as useful to Democrats as the iceberg was to the Titanic.”
Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine told the Metro back in September why Harry’s words were even more divisive that Meghan’s.
He said: “You can understand Meghan getting involved as an American citizen, although she is now a member of the Royal Family.
“But I think people will struggle a lot more with Prince Harry because as a prince of the blood it’s not seen as the done thing to talk about politics, be it British or American.”
