For those who doubt the depth of the Duke of Sussex's rift with some of his oldest and closest friends, the latest season of Clarkson's Farm offers a revealing glimpse.
Jeremy Clarkson, you might recall, was fiercely condemned by Prince Harry last year after publishing a controversial article in The Sun. In the piece, Clarkson expressed his intense dislike for the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, stating that he hated her "on a cellular level" and envisioning her being paraded naked through the streets while people threw eggs at her.
Although the Grand Tour star later apologized, Harry's spokesperson emphasized that Clarkson's long-standing pattern of writing articles promoting hate speech, dangerous conspiracy theories, and misogyny remained unaddressed.In episode seven of Clarkson's Farm, one of Prince Harry's oldest and previously closest friends appears alongside Clarkson. Referred to simply as "Hugh" on the show, Hugh van Cutsem is seen stalking deer with the Amazon Prime star. This appearance would have been unthinkable if Hugh and Harry were still close.
Hugh has known Prince William and Prince Harry their entire lives and has been involved in numerous royal events. William was the senior usher at Hugh's wedding to Rose Astor in 2005 and is the godfather to their daughter Grace. Grace also served as a bridesmaid at William and Kate's wedding. Hugh and Rose attended Harry and Meghan's wedding in 2018. However, after Harry and Meghan decided to step back from their roles as senior members of the royal family, Rose publicly mocked them, saying, "I'm standing back as a senior member of my tax return because I'd rather drink coffee, see my friends, love my family, and do yoga.
"In his memoir Spare, published last year, Harry detailed his falling out with Hugh and Rose. He recounted how Hugh's mother, Emily, and one of her four sons, also named Hugh, expressed their anger at Harry for participating in the bombshell Oprah Winfrey interview in 2021. Harry wrote that several close friends and beloved figures in his life, including one of Emily's sons, Emily herself, and even his former nanny Tiggy Pettifer, chastised him for the interview, questioning how he could reveal such private family matters.
The van Cutsem family had been close to the royal family for years, and their initial criticisms of Harry and Meghan's departure from royal duties, dubbed "Megxit," were voiced privately to Harry. However, it was Harry who publicly revealed these criticisms. While Rose made a public statement, she is not a van Cutsem by birth and had her own experiences with Meghan. Rose later declined to discuss her comments further, saying, "I'm so sorry I can't say anything. I'm sure you understand. I'm going to be in so much trouble."Harry's estrangement from his old friends is profound.
He has lost touch with many longtime friends who were stunned by the revelations made during the Oprah interview. Angela Levin, who wrote a biography of Harry before Meghan, noted that he seems to have changed significantly, remarking that he was not like this before his relationship with Meghan. According to Levin, Harry now has few friends left in the UK, with Nacho Figueras being one of the few remaining. However, even that friendship is described as transactional. Harry's wife, Meghan, has been accused of isolating him from everyone and everything he once knew, with many believing he has willingly embraced this estrangement.
