Prince Harry feels 'violated' by hoax call claims expert

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The Duke of Sussex has confirmed his part-time role as one of 14 commissioners on the non-profit Aspen Institute’s new Commission on Information Disorder. Harry has repeatedly warned the public about the dangers of the digital world ever since he left the royal fold. Last year, he and his wife Meghan Markle made headlines for encouraging American voters to reject “hate speech, misinformation and online negativity” before the US Presidential election.

He also wrote an opinion piece which said social media is stoking a “crisis of hate, a crisis of health, and a crisis of truth” while supporting a Facebook boycott throughout July as part of the Stop Hate for Profit campaign.

But before he even officially left the Royal Family last March, he was reportedly fooled by misinformation himself.

The Sun reported that Russian hoaxers, Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov, had reached the Duke of Sussex on his landline at his rented Vancouver Island mansion on two occasions — New Year’s Eve, 2019, and January 22 last year.

Harry thought he was talking to climate change activist Greta Thunberg and her father Svante, and allegedly chatted openly for an hour.

The YouTubers managed to contact Harry by emailing an intermediary who forwarded the message on without checks.

The email had the subject line, ‘Call or meeting with Greta Thunberg’, and claimed to be sent from Ms Thunberg’s director, set up in the name of a former Swiss President, Ueli Maurer.

Mr Stolyarov told The Sun: “We were shocked when he emailed us. No one ever checked us out to see who we really were.”

Buckingham Palace sources said this was a “wake-up call” for the Sussexes over their security measures.

The Duke of Sussex seemed to make several surprising confessions during the taped conversation.

He said: “I can assure you, marrying a prince or princess is not all it’s made up to be.

He also took a dig at the then US President, and said: “I think the mere fact that Donald Trump is pushing the coal industry so big in America, he has blood on his hands.”

He added: “You forget, I was in the military for 10 years so I’m more normal than my family would like to believe.”

Harry and Meghan have ramped up their warnings about the digital world since the hoax phone call was published last March.

The Duke of Sussex also claimed that normal life was “much better” than being a royal, clearly hinting at revelations which were later confirmed in his interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The pranksters previously duped other famous figures from Elton John to US politician Bernie Sanders.

Royal commentator and biographer Omid Scobie, who is sympathetic to the Sussexes, explained on the Heirpod podcast last year: “I spoke with a source close to Harry earlier in the week — he wasn’t so concerned about what was said on the call and that being out there.

“He stands by what he says, he’s not there to hide anything from anyone. But it’s that feeling of violation, it’s not a pleasant feeling to experience.

“It also comes at a time when the Sussexes have been through enough.”

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The phone calls were leaked after Harry and Meghan attended their final royal engagement at the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in London.

They had officially left their royal lives behind when the recordings were leaked.

ABC Foreign Correspondent Maggie Rulli also noted: “They got him to talk about a lot of personal things. They got him to open up and be really vulnerable.”

Explaining why he has decided to join the Aspen Institute’s Commission on Information Disorder, Harry said: “As I’ve said, the experience of today’s digital world has us inundated with an avalanche of misinformation, affecting our ability as individuals as well as societies to think clearly and truly understand the world we live in.

“It’s my belief that this is a humanitarian issue and as such, it demands a multi-stakeholder response from advocacy voices, members of the media, academic researchers and both government and civil society leaders.

“I’m eager to join this new Aspen Commission and look forward to working on a solution-oriented approach to the information disorder crisis.”

Harry has been criticised for his new job, after questions were raised about the accuracy of his sit-down tell-all with Oprah Winfrey which aired earlier this month.

Chair of GB News, Andrew Neil, tweeted: “Maybe he’ll start with a recent Oprah Winfrey interview…”

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