Prince Harry's Long-Time Friend Reveals What He's Really Like Behind Closed Doors

Prince Harry will be joined by his wife, Meghan Markle, kids, and a select group of close friends to celebrate his milestone birthday on Sunday, which he plans to mark with a "low-key" get-together. "I was anxious about 30, I’m excited about 40," he told the BBC in a statement. In a commendable article published in the Daily Mail to mark the event, journalist Bryony Gordon—a longtime friend of the Sussexes—called the Duke a “pretty damn normal” human. "He is kind, funny, all things considered, I often see a flash of disappointment cloud their faces, followed quickly by words to the effect of ‘well, you would say that you know him,’ as if knowing someone should disqualify you from having a trusted opinion about them,” she added.

Dispelling the negativity surrounding Prince Harry since his exit from the royal family, Gordon gave an insight into his true character in the article, “I’ve heard a lot of fairly negative things said about him, character assassinations that bear no resemblance to the man I’ve come to count as a friend, the one who cares passionately about injured veterans, and who’s done more than most to change perceptions of mental health in this country,” she said speaking of the United Kingdom. 

In the article which was published on September 12, the journalist stated that she became friends with the monarch approximately eight years ago, "and ever since, life has been peppered with questions from people curious to know more about his character." She recalled the Duke was the first guest on her podcast, Bryony Gordon's Mad World, on mental health, and “to my surprise, he said yes,” she wrote. “Even more surprising was the honesty that poured out of him as we recorded the podcast in Kensington Palace.”

“He was nervous about what he wanted to tell me — nervous enough that I found myself trying to calm and reassure him. But there was good reason for his anxiety. At the time, the royals were not known for anything other than a stiff upper lip. It was not the done thing for them to talk about their feelings.” Gordon who affectionately refers to the Duke as "Haz" continued, “I spent an afternoon at the house, the kids [Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet] running around happily as we drank tea,” Gordon wrote.

“Harry proudly showed me the DIY photo wall he’d recently created, featuring pictures of his mum.” Gordon recalled taking a jar of their homemade jam with her, “which I then left in the back of a taxi in a jet-lagged stupor,” she wrote. “Somewhere in Los Angeles, a cab driver has one of the earliest batches of American Riviera Orchard’s produce.”

In terms of their relationship, Gordon characterized the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as “a pretty ordinary couple existing in an absolutely extraordinary situation,” she wrote. “There are no airs or graces with them, no desire to do anything other than protect their children from an increasingly digital world that likes nothing more than seeing the worst in people. A world that forgets that no matter how high profile a person is, they’re just doing their best, like everyone else.” She added, “This is not what people want to hear, but it is what I’ve found, time and time again.”