James Haskell, a longtime friend of Prince Harry, has claimed he’s been “no fun” since he married Meghan Markle.
While the former rugby union player has jumped to their defence in the past, the 38-year-old made a sly dig towards the couple on stage during a live version of his podcast in Bath this week.
James recalled meeting the Prince at the 2011 wedding of his co-host Mike Tindall to Zara Phillips, saying: “Who should be there, wandering around having a good time, but Prince Harry…”
Although James has always spoken positively about Harry and Meghan, he appeared to throw shade at the former actress with his next sentence.
According to the Daily Mail, he told the crowd: “He hadn’t met her [Meghan] yet, so he was still quite fun.”
The audience then erupted in applause and cheers at his remark.
The Duke of Sussex previously revealed that he was condemned by some of his oldest friends for the interview that he and his wife gave to Oprah Winfrey in 2021.
However, James stood by him throughout the controversy.
He previously said: “When someone feels like they and their partner have been oppressed, lied about, contradicted and put into a corner, I think it’s very important [to speak out].”
Earlier this year, James and Mike recorded a special World Cup edition of their podcast at Windsor Castle with Tindall’s mother-in-law, Princess Anne, and the Prince and Princess of Wales.
James joked to Mike on stage that he is uber-submissive to his royal in-laws, describing him as: “I don’t know how to say this but Tinds is a proper brown-nose around the royals,’ he declared.”
“He’s taken brown-nosing to a new level. They called him ‘Solesy’ at the palace because the only thing you see hanging out of their backsides are the soles of his feet.”
He poked fun at Mike once again, and said that since he joined the family: “He’s had Harry out and he’s had [Prince] Andrew out [of the family] as well. He’s one big plane crash away from being King.”
With the audience laughing, Haskell added: “He keeps trying to book their travel. Charles will be asking him, ‘Do we really have to fly to Afghanistan? And all together? And on Ryanair?’
Haskell also made a controversial remark towards the service they received at Windsor Castle, and said: “The tea we were served came in chipped mismatching mugs with cheesy slogans on.”
