bitchy | Tina Brown: Prince Harry’s ‘appetite for money made him make disastrous decisions’

Tina Brown has opened her mouth yet again. She actually has a reason for talking so much this week – she’s promoting Truth Tellers: Sir Harry Evans Investigative Journalism Summit, which is set to take place on May 7 in London. Sir Harry was her late husband – he died in 2020 at the age of 92. This summit was basically thrown together so that Tina and her British-journalism buddies can all get together and reminisce about the good old days when they were relevant. Obviously, to promote the summit, Tina has been talking a lot about the royals. Not long ago, n a podcast interview, she spoke of little else but her hatred for the Duchess of Sussex. Well, Tina spoke to the Telegraph this week and, obviously, a huge chunk of this piece is about the Sussexes too. Who would have thought.

On QEII’s 2022 death: “The Queen managed her own death with such aplomb; every CEO should figure out how to go like she went. She planned her entire exit so there would be minimum bad drama. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if she didn’t think: ‘I’ll see in Liz Truss, I’ll kiss off Boris Johnson and I’ll stop taking my meds.’ Because it was just so perfect. Everything about that managed death reassured the public: the procession of that coffin, the way it was flown back, the sight of Princess Anne with it.”

King Charles the statesman: “Charles impeccably took over. God knows the man had been in training for 50 years. He was flawless, except for a tiny slip over his fountain pen, you couldn’t fault it. Because of that, the country changed eras. It was a beautiful transition. He had a lot of luck, because the whole debacle of Boris Johnson and Truss left him as the great statesman of England. Suddenly Charles was the most senior, measured statesman in Europe. He has become seen as that. Everybody wanted to say the House of Windsor was going to blow up, but compared to a great many things, the House of Windsor is on a pretty steady footing.”

The Harry-shaped hole in the royal family: “There is still a Harry-shaped hole [in the Royal family], but I don’t think that hole’s going to close. It’s a pity, because that’s all they lack, that bit of sizzle coming out. The side-sizzle Margaret provided for the Queen is actually very good for a Royal family because it takes the pressure off William and Catherine to have to be perfect, which is very boring for them. What’s unfortunate is that Harry is the most talented in the family at human relations, like his mother.”

Brown thinks Harry misses being a prince: “He really knows how to play the role of the prince. I think he really likes it. That’s what’s so ironic. For a bit he thought he didn’t because the Palace is boring and oppressive and so on. Now he’s had a few years doing it without them, I think he really misses being a prince because he was good at it. He and Meghan talk about ‘doing good’ but what good are they doing? The good you can do as a royal is so much more potent. When Diana shook the hands of the Aids patient without gloves, when royals always wore gloves before, how much more potent was it that she was a princess than if she’d simply been a celebrity?”

The Sussexes volunteering during the CA wildfires: “You become a disaster tourist. I think Harry feels it keenly. But he’s obviously loyal to his wife.”

The Oprah interview was a disaster! “Unfortunately, his appetite – their appetite – for money made him make disastrous decisions. The disastrous decision of the book was very hard to return from. I think the Oprah [Winfrey] interview was the most gratuitously stupid move. There wasn’t any money in it. The relationship between the brothers sounds like it’s very hard to repair. I think Harry would make it up, but I don’t think William can.”

Her thoughts on With Love, Meghan? “She’s back in 2013, doing the Tig. I think Suits and the Tig was the last time she felt successful. It’s all been hellish ever since. Every week she announces a new project. Stop announcing projects! She’s almost compulsive about announcing things and they don’t really happen. They fade and she looks ridiculous. I feel sorry for her, because she’s so lost. I think Harry’s a talent that’s worth more than that. I hope he gets a life back.” She says Queen Elizabeth’s “in or out” rule might not have helped. “In today’s world, there probably was a way they could have been in Montecito six months of the year and the rest of the year he could do his gigs. He should do foreign tours. He ought to be able to be sent as an emissary of youthful England for the next 10 years.”

I’ve read so many Tina Brown interviews over the years, and while she’s absolutely racist and vile about Meghan, it sort of cracks me up how she’s always inadvertently (?) admitting that the Windsors desperately need Harry & Meghan’s star power, that the Sussexes have all of the rizz and sizzle. And finally, some of these people are pointing out that the half-in solution really would have worked out. Oh well!

But check out how Tina stumbles over her own bullsh-t within a few sentences. “Unfortunately, his appetite – their appetite – for money made him make disastrous decisions” and then “the Oprah [Winfrey] interview was the most gratuitously stupid move. There wasn’t any money in it.” So are the Sussexes money-hungry desperados who will do anything for cash, or are they stupidly telling their story for free? As the years roll by, the Sussexes’ decision to speak to Oprah was such a smart move to set the record straight after years of bullsh-t. Harry’s memoir was also a master stroke which will be referenced as the definitive account of his life and times for years to come. That’s why Tina is mad – that Harry and Meghan are telling their own stories in their own words, without having to get filtered by palace comms offices and the British media.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Cover Images.