Harry believed he was speaking with climate activist Greta Thunberg and her father when he spilled the details.
Harry believed he was speaking with climate activist Greta Thunberg and her father when he spilled the details.
Prince Harry has revealed how he and Meghan Markle really feel about their split with the royal family in a phone call leaked by Russian pranksters.
The Duke of Sussex believed he was speaking with climate activist Greta Thunberg and her father when he spilled the details, but he was actually speaking to prolific Russian hoax callers Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov, The Sun reported.
The Russians released the recordings online - and they reveal the inner workings of the royal split, as well as Harry's thoughts on the climate, President Trump and his infamous uncle Prince Andrew.
Speaking from his new home in Canada on New Year's Eve and January 22, the Duke claimed he was "completely separate" from the rest of the royal family.
Harry admitted that "sometimes the right decision isn't always the easy one," adding the decision "certainly wasn't the easy one but it was the right decision for our family, the right decision to be able to protect my son."
When the Russian playing Greta's dad asked if normal life was better than life in The Firm, Harry replied: "Oh no, I think it's much better."
"You forget, I was in the military for 10 years so I'm more normal than my family would like to believe.
"But certainly being in a different position now gives us the ability to say things and do things that we might not have been able to do.
"And seeing as everyone under the age of 35 or 36, seems to be carrying out an activist's role, gives us the opportunity to try and make more of a difference without being criticised."
Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov - aka Vovan and Lexus - have duped some of the biggest names in the world.
He disputed that he had been stripped of his titles, telling the Russians: "Because of a technicality within the family, if we are earning money separately from within the family structure, then we obviously have been asked not to use our titles in order to make money, which we would never do."
He distanced himself from his uncle, Prince Andrew, when quizzed about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
"I have very little to say on that," he told the pranksters.
"But whatever he has done or hasn't done, is completely separate from me and my wife. We operate in a way of inclusivity and we are focusing on community.
"And so we are completely separate from the majority of my family."
Trump has 'blood on his hands'
In conversation with the fake 'Greta', Harry claimed that US President Donald Trump had "blood on hands" because of his climate policy.
"People are dying every single month by some form of natural disaster created from this huge change in our climate," he said.
Harry praised the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, telling the hoaxers that he is "a good man".
"But you have to understand that because he has been around for so long like all of these other people, they are already set in their ways," he said.
"They believe what they want to believe, they believe what they have been told."What you are now saying to them is not only inconvenient but is completely against everything they have ever believed. So that is what you're up against, up against changing habits, as you know."
On activisim
Harry told the Russians that he and Meghan had dropped plans to create a charitable foundation to aid their humanitarian work, saying that he doesn't think "the world needs necessarily another foundation," The Sun reported.
He said: "I think at the moment, my wife and I, we were being directed towards starting a foundation but we actually decided there is probably enough foundations out there doing amazing work.
"And there's a hell of a lot of money being passed around the world and there are so many problems but we thought we'd just take a moment and see if there was some form of other organisation or different entity we could create that could bring people together, rather than us just starting a foundation. We don't think the world needs necessarily another foundation from us.
"So we are just taking a little bit more time to think about how we can use our platform and how we can use our voice to try and encourage real change and real difference as opposed to, you know, small incremental changes.
"As we all know, the world's problems seem to be getting bigger and seem to be happening far quicker . . . I think the solutions are far quicker to enable as well, but there needs to be a real shift in mindset. We try and do our best.
"Unfortunately the world is being led by some very sick people, so people like yourselves and younger generation are the ones that are going to make all the difference."
On fighting battles with the media
Asked by "Greta" about dealing with the media, Harry revealed: "The best advice I can give on that is to be able to see through the fear."
"For most, all of my life, I've always been part of a family and part of a country that is scared of the tabloid media because they have so much power and influence and no morals."
Harry thought he was speaking to Greta Thunberg and her father.
"From the moment that I found a wife that was strong enough to be able to stand up for what we believe in together, has basically scared them so much that they've now come out incredibly angry, they've come out fighting, and all they will try and do now is try and destroy our reputation and try and, you know, sink us.
"But what they don't understand is the battle we are fighting against them is far more than just us.
"So I think one of the, what I've always believed, one of the strongest ways to change mindset and be able to raise consciousness and be able to create self-awareness among people, is to challenge the media and say you have a responsibility and you are accountable for everything you are feeding people because you are brainwashing people, so this is far bigger than just us."
Prolific hoaxers
Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov — aka Vovan and Lexus - have duped some of the biggest names in the world.
They have used Greta Thunberg in the past, tricking US presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders into thinking he was speaking with the eco-activist.
They also convinced Elton John into thinking he was chatting to Vladimir Putin about gay rights in Russia.
In a call to US congresswoman Maxine Waters, they managed to convince the veteran lawmaker into thinking she was helping people on the fictional island of Chunga-Changa.
