Prince Harry’s shrinking circle of friends – and the friends who were cut off

Prince Harry’s life today is very different from the one he led just five years ago.

Not only did he marry Meghan Markle and become the father of Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, but he also left his royal position and moved his home from the UK to California. So it’s only natural that this would have a big impact on his friendships.

Both he and Prince William grew up surrounded by the same group of friends, many of whom went on to become godparents to their children. A number of factors contributed to Harry losing old friends and gaining new ones, such as moving to California and his relationship with William being at an all-time low.

Some of their buddies may have been forced to take sides, while some seem to want a relationship with both brothers. Here’s a look at some of Harry’s closest friends – and others who were seemingly frozen out.

Tom “Skippy” Inskip

Tom Inskip, known as Skippy, has been Harry’s childhood friend. His father, Owen Inskip, is a friend of King Charles and field master of his favorite hunt, the Beaufort. Skippy is one of Harry’s oldest friends, having met as classmates at Eton, and he was a regular at the “nightclub” the princes held in the basement of Highgrove.

Tom has been with the Duke through a number of scandals, including when Harry was seen inhaling hippie crack at a party in 2010, and when the prince was photographed naked while playing strip pool in Las Vegas in 2012. then-girlfriend Meghan was a guest at Tom and Lara Hughes-Young’s wedding in 2017 before their romance was officially confirmed. However, the childhood friends reportedly had a huge falling out when Skippy questioned Meghan’s suitability as a future member of the royal family.

According to the 2020 book Finding Freedom, Tom expressed doubt about how quickly the relationship was progressing and told Harry that he should move in with Meghan before “doing anything more serious.” Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote that while Tom’s advice “came from a good place”, Harry “didn’t quite see it that way”.

It was claimed that as a result of the row, Skippy and his wife Lara were “punished” by being excluded from Harry and Meghan’s evening wedding party at Frogmore House. But the couple reportedly reconciled after burying the hatchet when Tom’s mother-in-law died and thanks to a phone call after Prince Archie was born.

Guy Pelly

Guy Pelly, known as the “court jester” of Harry and William’s friends, is something of a party animal in the royal circle.

He has been close to the princes since childhood and was by Harry’s side during the infamous Nazi costume party incident when he was dressed as the late queen. Dubbed “the third brother”, Guy organized William’s stag party and both royals attended his own wedding.

Despite family tensions, Guy remained close to the Sussexes and visited the couple in California with his wife Elizabeth Wilson and their daughter. “Harry and Meghan kindly invited them,” a source told Richard Eden at the time. “Even though it was said that Harry had lost touch with his old friends, he was eager to see Guy.” Guy is also still close to William, as he is one of Prince Louis’ godparents.

Charlie van Straubenzee

Charlie is one of three brothers who befriended William and Harry at an early age. The three van Straubenzee boys were classmates of the young princes at Ludgrove School and remained close friends into adulthood. Sadly, middle brother Henry died in a car accident in December 2002, aged just 18, as a passenger in a car that crashed into a tree while leaving a party near Ludgrove.

Harry says hearing his best friend died “just like Mum” took him back to the night King Charles told him Princess Diana had died. Younger brother Charlie is another childhood friend of the princes, and he shares Harry’s “perpetual bachelor” reputation.

He reportedly chose Harry as best man at his wedding to Daisy Jenks in August 2018, and the Duke of Sussex returned the favor when he married Meghan. Charlie reportedly gave an incredible speech at the evening reception at Frogmore House. He cheekily mocked Harry’s role as dormitory caretaker during his school days, claiming the young prince stole his teddy bear and threw it on the roof.

Thomas van Straubenzee

Older brother Thomas had been close to both Harry and William since school, but closer to the latter. Thomas, who was the same age as William when they attended Ludgrove School, accompanied the future king on his royal tour of New Zealand in 2005. In 2011, Harry quickly drove to the aid of his pal after hearing he was being mugged for his Blackberry while they were chatting. on the phone.

Harry, having just returned from helicopter training in the US, looked for him until his intuition led him to the local police station, where he gave a statement. Thomas is one of Princess Charlotte’s five godparents and married the assistant headmaster of her school.

One of Harry’s biggest revelations in his book Spire was his claim that he was not best man at William’s wedding. Harry was William’s official best man at his wedding to Kate in 2011 and even traveled with the future king to Westminster Abbey in a Bentley. But in a startling statement, he said this was an “outright lie” and that it was in fact two of his brother’s close friends, James Meade and Thomas Van Straubenzee.

Nacho Figueras

Nacho Figueras is one of Harry’s best friends in California and they are both members of the Los Padres Polo team. The Argentine was a Ralph Lauren model and in 2009 earned the title of the second most handsome man in the world in a Vanity Fair poll. Nacho, nicknamed the David Beckham of polo, maintained his long-standing friendship with Harry through the sport.

This happened when the prince founded his charity Sentebale, which helps people affected by HIV, and Nacho became an ambassador for the cause. Nacho and his wife Delfina attended the Sussexes’ wedding in 2018 and met Archie just weeks after his birth. In a 2019 interview with Ellen DeGeneres, she asked him about his friendship with Harry and the scrutiny he and Meghan faced during their time in the royal family. Speaking about Harry, he said: “He’s a wonderful person who really cares. He is truly dedicated to his work. He really cares about children and cares about making the world a better place.”

Earlier this year, Harry enjoyed a “guys trip” to Asia with Harry – and it looked like it was a fun time. Their vacation included attending the ISPS Sports Values ​​Summit in Tokyo and the two apparently had plenty of time to bond. In fact, they posed for a playful photo that Nacho posted on his Instagram account. It shows two men wearing women’s sunglasses in a Tokyo store folding their hands and walking in front of the camera. He captioned the photo: “Shopping for our wives.”

Marco

Mark Dyer, known as Marco, was a royal aide and the prince’s trusted protector. Harry looked up to Marco as a mentor and respected him for being “extremely red and owning it.” Viewed as a “second father” by the young prince, he appears regularly in the stories of Harry’s teenage years in the memoir Spare.

King Charles assigned his assistant to look after his youngest son, and Marco took Harry to Botswana when he was just a boy. The royal family sent Marco to tell Harry off when he took drugs at Eton, and the prince cheerfully told him the story of how he lost his virginity to an older woman in a field.

According to Penny Junor, author of the 2014 biography Prince Harry: Brother, Soldier, Son, Mark is “one of the few people who talks some sense into (Prince Harry) at times.” Marco, who recently beat stomach cancer, is believed to be one of Archie’s three godparents.

Tiggy

Harry and William’s nanny Alexandra Pettyfer, better known as Tiggy Legge-Bourke, remained close to the princes. Tiggy was the boys’ favorite nanny and Charles’ personal assistant from 1993 to 1999, but Harry admitted in Spare’s memoirs that his mother was not a fan.

In an article in Spare, Harry claimed that Princess Diana saw Tiggy as a rival and suspected that she was being groomed to become her replacement. The nanny had a close relationship with the royal brothers, and once referred to them as “my children.” Harry also revealed that Tiggy was one of those close to him who chastised him for his bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. Although it was never officially announced, it was widely reported that Tiggy had been chosen as one of Achi’s godparents.

Elton John

One person who has supported Harry over the decades is Sir Elton John, and the couple have even gone on holiday together. Elton was a close friend of Princess Diana and sang a special version of “Candle in the Wind” at her funeral in 1997. murders on their characters” in 2019.

Elton and his husband David Furnish are said to have a “paternal and protective” friendship with the Duke of Sussex. The superstar was reported to “talk to Harry and Meghan every day” and has “listened to them and been supportive throughout.”

In the Netflix docuseries, Meghan revealed that Archie’s favorite song was Bennie And The Jets, and Elton performed at their wedding reception in 2018. The former Watford Football Club owner is mentioned several times in Harry’s memoir Spare, and the Duke revealed he asked Elton to sing “Candle in the Wind” on the anniversary of his mother’s death. But the Grammy winner refused, saying that celebrating Diana’s life and achievements would be too “creepy.”

The most intriguing part comes when Harry reveals details of their conflict when he and Meghan visited the singer’s holiday home in France. Harry said he had congratulated Elton on completing the memoir, but the atmosphere soured when the Tiny Dancer singer revealed the memoir would be serialized in the Daily Mail.

The Duke asked Elton why he chose a newspaper that “made your life miserable”, to which he replied that he wanted people to read it. Despite their close connection and numerous references, at the end of Spare’s book there is not a word of gratitude to Elton.

James Corden

One of Harry’s new friends in California is James Corden. The Gavin & Stacey star gave Harry his first sit-down interview since he moved to Motecito back in 2021, when the guys spent the day riding an open-top bus together on The Late Late Show.

Last year, James said he was a “huge fan” of both Sussexes, that he would “always be in their corner” and that he had “nothing but admiration and respect” for the couple.

James’ children were on a date night at the couple’s home, and the host said the families went out to dinner afterward. The presenter described Harry as a “dedicated” husband and father, adding that he had shown courage in deciding to step down as a senior member of the royal family.

In a recent interview with The Sun, James avoided weighing in on the ongoing debate surrounding the Sussexes and said: “It’s not fair.” During the chat, he received a text message from Harry and playfully told the interviewer: “Oh my God, wouldn’t you love to see this.”