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In news that sounds very familiar, there’s a discrepancy between something Prince Harry has said and what the Palace says.

The Duke of Sussex and the rest of the royal family don’t agree on much these days, so it comes as no surprise that they are saying two different things about a trip Harry took to Canada.

Even though he no longer lives in the U.K., Harry continues to mark Remembrance Day from afar each year. But on Nov. 9, as the royals in the U.K. were preparing to mark Remembrance Sunday, pictures were shared on the internet of Harry partying at Kris Jenner’s 70th birthday party while wearing a red poppy. Of course, that wasn’t a good look, but the prince’s actions that actually had something to do with Remembrance Day are making waves with Buckingham and Kensington Palace.

Here’s more on that.

Prince Harry says his team informed royals, Palace says otherwise

Prince Harry took a trip to Canada to attend several of the country’s Remembrance Day events supporting veterans, including the True Patriot Love National Tribute Dinner on Nov. 6. The duke’s visit and announcement that he was going coincided with his brother Prince William’s trip to Brazil to announce his Earthshot Prize finalists at the COP30 climate summit. While William’s travels were reported and planned beforehand, Harry’s appeared to be a last-minute addition to his schedule.

The Sussexes’ team quickly tried to clear things up in a statement published by the Daily Mail, saying that Harry is “not afforded the same level of security and protection as other working members of the royal family. It means, therefore, that the period of time in which we can release details of events is much more truncated than it is for His Majesty the King or the Prince of Wales.

“The events were planned nearly a year ago. The date of the main event, the dinner, is set by the charity, not Prince Harry … he can’t choose to move those dates. We are always guided — as to when we can announce trips like this — by the advice given to us by his private security advisers and the event’s security team.”

The duke’s office added that “the Palace” had been informed in advance, “as a courtesy.” However, both Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace disputed that, insisting that there was no advance notice.

One source told The Times, it was “a bit rum” to claim the Palaces had been forewarned about Harry’s trip.

The Sussexes overshadowing the royals is a game they’ve been playing for years

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, have been playing the game of trying to steal the headlines from the royals whenever they have an important date on the family’s calendar, big news to share, or when it’s one of their birthdays.

For example, Meghan chose to put out some new products for her lifestyle brand (another flavor of jam and dog biscuits) during the 2024 Trooping the Colour, which was also the same day the Princess of Wales (formerly known as Kate Middleton) attended her first public event since announcing her cancer diagnosis.

Another time was when Prince Harry picked the release date for his book Spare within a day of Kate’s birthday. That was reminiscent of when the Sussexes decided to announce the bombshell news that they were stepping down in 2020 on Jan. 8, the day before the princess’s actual birthday, leaving no chance that anyone would be talking about Kate then.

And in 2024, Harry made the announcement that he would attend the U.N. General Assembly High-level Week and Climate Week (Sept. 22 through Sept. 29) in New York City “to advance a number of his patronages and philanthropic initiatives.” It’s believed that the news was just another attempt to distract from an important date for Prince William, as the future king’s Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit was on Sept. 24.

So, did Harry’s team really alert the Palace about his trip this year? It seems pointless for the Palace to lie about this, but isn’t it possible that there was a miscommunication and the message wasn’t sent to the appropriate people? Well, when the Duke of Sussex’s office was asked when they gave the “courtesy” warning and to whom, they refused to respond.

What is clear is when it comes to Harry, Meghan, and the rest of the royals, the late Queen Elizabeth was correct: “recollections may vary.”

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