Prince Harry’s friend ‘dumps’ him after years of friendship to team up with Meghan’s nemesis

Prince Harry’s former close friend has added fuel to feud rumors after aligning himself with Meghan Markle’s known nemesis Jeremy Clarkson. Clarkson, the former Top Gear presenter, caused a stir in 2022 when he wrote a controversial article for The Sun where he openly expressed his disdain for the Duchess of Sussex.

In his column, he fantasized about the Duchess being publicly humiliated – an idea later deemed sexist by the media. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex strongly denounced the article – which The Sun later retracted – for spreading “hate speech”, “dangerous conspiracy theories and misogyny”. Now, it looks like one of Prince Harry’s longtime friends may have passed, as featured in an episode of Clarkson’s popular Amazon Prime series, Clarkson’s Farm.

Hugh van Cutsem, a childhood acquaintance of both Princes William and Harry, was spotted stalking Clarkson in the show’s seventh episode, hinting that another ally had a falling out with the Royal, reports Mirror.

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Hugh’s father, also named Hugh, was a long-time friend of King Charles, dating back to their university days at Cambridge in the 1960s. The bond between the two families extended to their children, with William playing a role important as head usher at Hugh’s wedding to Rose Astor in 2005 and serving as godfather to their daughter Grace.

Grace herself played a role in William and Catherine’s wedding as a maid of honor in 2011. The Van Cutsems also supported Meghan when she moved to the UK in 2017 and attended the Sussexes’ wedding the following year. However, the friendship began to show signs of strain just two years later.

Rose found herself in a controversial situation when she publicly took issue with Harry and Meghan’s decision to step down from their senior royal roles. She posted on social media: “I’m giving up as a senior on my tax return because I’d rather drink coffee, see my friends, love my family and do yoga,” despite her subsequent apology, she added cryptically: ‘I can’t say anything, I’m sure you understand I’ll be in so much trouble.

The father-of-two confirmed his split with former childhood friend Hugh in his memoir Spare, when she revealed that his wife Emilie contacted him following the couple’s bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. “A few close friends and loved ones in my life, including one of Hugh and Emilie’s sons, Emilie, and even Tiggy (Pettifer, his former nanny), had chastised me for Oprah.