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Russian pranksters trick Prince Harry into revealing deeply personal info about royal family

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (Photo: Getty Images)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (Photo: Getty Images)

Prince Harry was reportedly duped by two Russian pranksters into thinking he was having a private conversation with Greta Thunberg and her father – and let’s just say the royal may have revealed a little too much.

Hoaxers Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov were behind the call, according to People, and got the Duke of Sussex to reveal his thoughts on Donald Trump, Prince Andrew and the rest of the royal family. Distancing himself from the royal family, Prince Harry spoke candidly about his uncle, the Duke of York.

"Whatever he has done or hasn’t done, is completely separate from me and my wife. We operate in a way of inclusivity, and we are focusing on community. And so we are completely separate from the majority of my family," Harry commented, even opening up about his decision to step down as a senior member of the royal family.

"Sometimes the right decision isn’t always the easy one," Harry said, "but it was the right decision for our family. I think there’s a hell of a lot of people around the world that can identify and respect us for putting our family first. It’s a tricky one, but we will start a new life."

"I can assure you marrying a prince or princess is not all it’s made out to be,” he said, commenting on Meghan’s ongoing battle with the press. "There’s lots of layers to it and lots of pieces to the puzzle."

On his new life being better than the royal one he’s lived for 35 years, he said, "I think it’s much better. You forget, I was in the military for 10 years so I’m more normal than my family would like to believe."

The phone call reportedly took place on New Year’s Eve and 22 January – around the same time as Harry and Meghan’s bombshell announcement – but were only leaked by the British media this week, reports Harper’s Bazaar, as Harry and Meghan attended their final engagement.

The publication adds, this isn’t the first time the pranksters tricked a high-profile celebrity. They once had a chat with Harry’s close friend, Elton John, Academy-Award winning actor, Joaquin Phoenix, as well as US presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders.

Vanity Fair made an inference that’s hard to ignore though, when they reported on Harry’s prank call. While very few people would shy away from commenting that Donald Trump has "blood on his hands" and Harry’s undoubtedly very passionate about climate change, his interview was unusually unrestricted, unfiltered – raw. But then again, so was Meghan’s speech when she made a trip to Robert Clack School for International Women’s Day last week.

Stepping down resulted in the loss of their HRH titles and royal funds, even the support of their family, but with it came a sense of freedom – "a new life".    

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