By Molly Claire Goddard
5:53pm PDT, Aug 22, 2025
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Prince Harry is being slammed for paying tribute to his late grandfather,
Prince Philip. After the Duke of Sussex wrote a personal letter honoring his grandfather on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, many are calling Harry a "hypocrite" for causing Philip stress in the final years of his life.
Keep reading to see what critics had to say…MORE:
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Prince Harry reportedly recruited a friend to leave a letter and a wreath of red poppies at the Burma Star Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in England for Prince Philip — who died in 2021 — after his father,
King Charles III and his wife,
Queen Camilla, left an official service of remembrance. In the letter, which a news outlet photographed, the 40-year-old wrote, "For me, this anniversary carries an added layer of meaning. My late grandfather, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, served in the Pacific campaign. He spoke with quiet humility about those years, but I know how deeply he respected all who stood beside him in that theatre of war. … Today, as I think of him, I think also of each of you, of the shared hardships, the bonds forged and the legacy you leave."
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According to
insiders,
Prince Harry's gesture for Prince Philip — which some critics perceived as "hijacking" the event — caused "unease at the palace." Said one source, referring to the duke's decision to retire from his royal duties with his wife,
Meghan Markle, and move to the United States in 2020, "What hypocrisy. Harry hurt his grandfather deeply during the final year of his life.
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Other critics called
Prince Harry's note for Prince Philip a "PR stunt" and claimed he was trying to upstage
Prince William and
Kate Middleton — who were not present at the event. "It was obviously a PR stunt. Bottom line is, if you didn't want it to be a PR stunt, just leave it there," royal author
Robert Jobson said. "Somebody would see it. It would get passed to the press eventually. It was a little bit too slick. It was part of Operation Rebuild Harry. The Prince and Princess of Wales absolutely should have been there. … A lot of people respected Harry for the Invictus Games, for his own service. You don't need to do stunts. I can almost hear the derision coming out of the Duke of Edinburgh's mouth. The [late] duke was a serviceman. It wasn't about himself. Harry was advised by his father [King Charles III] to think very carefully about what he does. You make your bed, you lie in it."
