1 week Ago By [email protected] (Phoebe Tonks)
When it comes to the Royal Family, it’s safe to say Sir Ian McKellen hasn’t held back when letting his true feelings be known in recent days, with the beloved actor having launched a s cathing attack on the late Queen Elizabeth by branding her “rude” and also taking digs at Prince Harry’s intelligence. However, despite his controversial comments, the 85 year old actor insisted he was “most definitely on Harry’s side” in a new interview with The Times. While leafing through a copy of the Duke of Sussex ’s memoir Spare, McKellen quipped: “Imagine being born into the royal family .
I’ve been in public life a bit, but these people are in prison.” He added, “They can’t do anything normal. Can you imagine having to be nice to everyone you talk to?” Harry, 39, is the youngest son of King Charles and late ex-wife Princess Diana, and has courted a considerable amount of controversy in recent years since stepping back from royal life with his wife Meghan Markle in 2020.
READ MORE: Ian McKellen asked to return knighthood after calling Queen 'rude' and 'mad' Since moving to the US that same year, it’s safe to say Prince Harry ’s relationship with his royal relatives has been strained at best, particularly after he levelled numerous damning claims against the royals in various interviews and in his memoir. “My family literally cut me off financially, and I [needed to be able to] afford security for us,” Harry said in a bombshell CBS interview that aired in 2021. “[I was cut off] in the first quarter of 2020.
But I’ve got what my mom left me [when she died in August 1997] and without that, we would not have been able to do this.” Harry continued at the time, “I will always love [my family], but there’s a lot of hurt that’s happened. I will continue to make it one of my priorities to try and heal that relationship.
” Despite his insistence that he wished to reconcile, Harry later alleged that both his father King Charles and brother Prince William were responsible for planting false and unkind stories in the press about his wife Meghan and her family. Although the royals never publicly addressed the claims, his relationship with both members of the family did seem fraught for a number of years, however there has been some progress in reconciliation thanks to King Charles’ cancer diagnosis. Immediately after hearing of his father’s illness, Harry hopped on a plane to the UK and sought an audience with him to wish him well.
Reflecting on the experience shortly after, Harry told Good Morning America “I love my family. “The fact that I was able to get on a plane and go and see him and spend any time with him, I’m grateful for that. I jumped on a plane and went to go see him as soon as I could.
” A source later told Us Weekly that Charles had been "extremely touched” by the gesture, something which hinted it could potentially lead to a full reconciliation in the future. As for Ian McKellen, he also weighed in on the royal’s current lifestyle as he offered his kudos to the royals who can “stay sane in that world .” “Hats off to anyone who [does] .
.. like the [late] Duke of Edinburgh managed to do, although even he was deeply, deeply eccentric and I suspect deeply unhappy.
Same with the present king,” McKellen quipped to The Times . “[Charles] sort of survives, but he is clearly damaged. As for Harry, he’s probably not bright enough or doesn’t have the right friends to really help himself.
Mind you, he had the pick of all the pretty women in the world. I hope he’s got the right one [in Meghan].”.
