Prince Harry's 'ruthless' comments have had this heartbreaking impact on the Queen, royal expert claims

Prince Harry’s comments about “genetic pain and suffering” have been called “ruthlessly cruel” by a royal expert, who claims they've had a heartbreaking effect on the Queen. 

• Royal expert Angela Levin has described Prince Harry’s comments about his time growing up in the Royal Family as “cruel”.
• She explained that the Queen “adores” Harry and went on to claim he’s shown a “lack of understanding” for anyone else’s position. 
• This royal news (opens in new tab) comes as heartbreaking footage from Princess Diana's funeral features in new trailer for Prince Harry's mental health documentary with Oprah (opens in new tab). 

Since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle stepped back (opens in new tab) as senior members of the Royal Family, they have spoken out about life in the spotlight. Their “tell-all” Oprah interview earlier this year saw them make a series of shocking revelations. In response, the Queen shared a considered statement (opens in new tab), reiterating that the Sussexes will always be "much loved family members".

Despite this, though, Harry’s recent appearance on Dax Shepard's Armchair Expert podcast has reignited rumors of a rift between him and his family. During the interview, Harry opened up about the “cycle of pain and suffering” (opens in new tab) he’d experienced.

He also claimed that this was "passed on" to him by Prince Charles, supposedly influenced by the Queen and Prince Philip's parenting.

“Suddenly I started to piece it together and go ‘OK, so this is where he went to school, this is what happened, I know this about his life, I also know that is connected to his parents so that means he’s treated me the way he was treated, so how can I change that for my own kids?’” Harry stated. 

The Duke of Sussex’s latest comments have since been criticized by royal expert Angela Levin.  In an appearance on Good Morning Britain, Angela branded his remarks “ruthlessly cruel”, especially given the recent death of Prince Philip (opens in new tab). 

She went on to allege that they've had a heartbreaking impact on the Queen at this challenging time.

She told GMB: "This lack of understanding of anyone else's position, for Prince Charles, who as we saw when the funeral took place, he was absolutely devastated to lose his father. And the Queen, at 95, bravely went to open Parliament again but you could tell she wasn't the same Queen.

"She's desperately upset, she adores Harry. And Prince Charles has done his best. So, it is unspeakably, ruthlessly cruel.”

Prince Harry’s recent remarks come at what is already a very difficult time. Though the Queen has now returned to royal duties, she continues to mourn her beloved husband of 73 years (opens in new tab).

Last week she attended the State Opening of Parliament, supported by Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla. It was here that Her Majesty faced a particularly heartbreaking detail (opens in new tab) as after so many years, the Duke of Edinburgh’s Consort’s Throne had been removed from the House of Lords.

Prince Harry flew back to the UK to for Prince Philip's funeral (opens in new tab) last month, joining his grandmother and the wider Royal Family in grieving.

It's not yet known when Prince Harry might next see the Queen following his recent podcast appearance.