NEED TO KNOW
- Meghan Markle is facing criticism after a joke about a friend’s red-haired son went viral.
- The comment sparked renewed discussion of long-running rumours about Prince Harry’s paternity.
- Harry has repeatedly rejected claims that former cavalry officer James Hewitt is his biological father.
- In his memoir Spare, Harry described the speculation as deeply hurtful.
- An insider claims Meghan’s “clumsy” joke unintentionally reopened an old wound for the Duke of Sussex.
Whispers about his paternity have caused the Duke of Sussex unbearable pain over the years.
His late mother, Princess Diana, had an affair with cavalry officer James Hewitt, which began two years after Prince Harry was born in 1984. But their similar hair-colouring still led to chatter that the dashing officer was in fact Harry’s father.
In his 2023 book Spare, Harry even claimed that King Charles once quipped, “Who even knows if I’m your real father”, which he described as a “remarkably unfunny joke”.
So, it’s all the more dumbfounding that Harry’s wife, the Duchess of Sussex, would make a crass quip about her husband and the paternity of a friend’s red-haired baby.
“What was she thinking?” a source tells New Idea. “Meghan knows this is a very sore point for Harry.”
Last week, Meghan, 44, shared an image on Instagram Stories in which she cuddled her friend Kelly McKee Zajfen’s son, Jack.
Alongside it, she wrote: “We know I love a redhead. And let me stop you before they start, no, it’s not his baby.”
EXCLUSIVE: “Calculated move”: Expert unpacks Meghan Markle’s “olive branch” amid reunion talk
EXCLUSIVE: Prince Harry pictured alone as insiders say “he’s never felt more homesick”
EXCLUSIVE: What’s really going on with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle? Experts weigh in
Next
While the gag was intended purely as a nod to Harry, 41, and little Jack’s ginger locks, the comment went viral and quickly revived the very rumours Harry has spent years trying to escape.
“It wasn’t even a funny joke, but the hurtful part is Meghan knows every detail of Harry’s traumatic past,” our source says.
“It’s extraordinary she would risk reopening such a deep wound with a lame joke about Harry secretly fathering a red-haired baby.
“He’s had to deal with this ridiculous speculation his entire life. Why risk putting him back in that position. For what? A few likes?”
The “clumsy” joke wasn’t intended to hurt Harry, but the issue “could have been avoided altogether had Meghan not gone there”, our insider adds.
Harry’s paternity first came under the spotlight when James released his controversial book, Princess in Love, in 1994.
Despite the fact that James didn’t meet Diana until 1986, the story of their affair would spark decades of rumours that the red-headed soldier was Harry’s biological father.
For years, the royal family’s stance of ignoring fake stories caused great distress to Harry.
It wasn’t until it emerged, in the British press in 2002, that there was a plot to “steal Harry’s DNA” to try and ‘prove’ the fake story, that the situation became serious.
James, rather than the palace, came out to publicly rubbish the claims.
“It marked the end of a very paranoid and unsafe time for Harry,” says our insider. “Which is why Meghan’s comment was so shocking.”
Never miss a story! Sign up to New Idea’s FREE newsletter for royal news and exclusives here.
The post Meghan Markle’s “clumsy” paternity joke causes fresh anguish for Prince Harry appeared first on New Idea.
