The Duke of Sussex opened his phone call with Russians posing as Greta Thunberg by assuring them: ‘You can call me whatever you want – Harry is fine!’
Believing he was speaking to the teenage environmentalist, he touched on topics including climate change, Prince Andrew and him and Meghan stepping down from senior Royal duties.
The transcripts from two calls with Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov – known as Vovan and Lexus – reveal what Harry divulged on New Year’s Eve on January 22.
Prince Harry (pictured at the Invictus Charity Day in September last year) discussed the possibility of Greta (right, at Stockholm’s Parliament House) marrying Prince George
Here is what Harry had to say:
On Megxit
‘You can call me whatever you want — Harry is fine. [Asked about Megxit]. Um, it’s, that’s probably a conversation for another time, there’s lots of layers to it and lots of pieces to the puzzle.
‘But sometimes the right decision isn’t always the easy one. I can assure you, marrying a Prince or Princess is not all it’s made out to be!
‘And this decision certainly wasn’t the easy one but it was the right decision for our family, the right decision to be able to protect my son.
‘And 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. But, yeah, it’s a tricky one, but we will start a new life.’
Prince Harry and Meghan, pictured on Monday, attended their last official Royal engagements this week
On their new life in Canada
‘Oh no, I think it’s much better (than royal life). You forget, I was in the military for ten years so I’m more normal than my family would like to believe.
‘But certainly being in a different position now gives us the ability to say things and do things that we might not have been able to do.
‘And seeing as everyone under the age of 35 or 36, seems to be carrying out an activist’s role, gives us the opportunity to try and make more of a difference without being criticised (chuckles)’.
On being stripped of titles and losing royal privileges
‘No, no, again you mustn’t believe what you read, no one has stripped us of our titles. Because of a technicality within the family, if we are earning money separately from within the family structure, then we obviously have been asked not to use our titles in order to make money, which we would never do. But the press managed to jump on that to make it look like we had been stripped.’
On charity work
‘I think at the moment, my wife and I, we were being directed towards starting a foundation but we actually decided there is probably enough foundations out there doing amazing work.
‘And there’s a hell of a lot of money being passed around the world and there are so many problems but we thought we’d just take a moment and see if there was some form of other organisation or different entity we could create that could bring people together, rather than us just starting a foundation. We don’t think the world needs necessarily another foundation from us.
‘So we are just taking a little bit more time to think about how we can use our platform and how we can use our voice to try and encourage real change and real difference as opposed to, you know, small incremental changes.
Vladimir ‘Vovan’ Kuznetsov, 30, and Alexei ‘Lexus’ Stolyarov, called Prince Harry twice on a landline at his home on Vancouver Island. The pair then allegedly animated the conversation and posted it on YouTube
‘As we all know, the world’s problems seem to be getting bigger and seem to be happening far quicker . . . I think the solutions are far quicker to enable as well, but there needs to be a real shift in mindset. We try and do our best.
‘I’ve spent many, many years being criticised by the media for doing all sorts of things and trying to change the way we think, um, and I can sympathise but at the same time applaud the work that all of you are doing because it’s not an easy time and the world is a troubled place and can be very easy to give up and I think what you guys are doing absolutely remarkable’.
On Donald Trump
‘The mere fact that Donald Trump is pushing the coal industry is so big in America, he has blood on his hands. But Trump will want to meet you to make him look better but he won’t want to have a discussion about climate change with you because you will outsmart him.
Pictured: The video the pranksters released revealing Harry saying that Greta is smarter than Donald Trump
‘Whether you have an option to meet President Trump or an option to meet Boris Johnson, I think I would always. It’s far more important to have an open dialogue and have conversation with these people than not’
On Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein
‘I have very little to say on that. But 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.’
On Boris Johnson
‘I think he is a good man, so you are one of few people who can reach into his soul and get him to feel and believe in you.
‘But you have to understand that because he has been around for so long like all of these other people, they are already set in their ways. They believe what they want to believe, they believe what they have been told.
‘What you are now saying to them is not only inconvenient but is completely against everything they have ever believed. So that is what you’re up against, up against changing habits, as you know’.
On the climate
‘Unfortunately, the world is being led by some very sick people, so people like yourselves and (the) younger generation are the ones that are going to make all the difference.
‘People need to be woken up and the only way to wake people up from what effectively is a consciousness crisis is, I think, you need to be doing extreme things.
‘What you need to do is make real big changes that actually shock people, and it’s that shock factor that wakes people up.’
On the Election
‘The fact that our choice was between those two individuals in my mind, I think, probably creates more of an observation that the system itself might be broken.
‘There’s a lot that the leaders of today can learn and can listen to people like yourself.’
On using private jets
‘Unfortunately there is very few alternatives. We have to fly on commercial planes all over the world. Nowhere near as much as most people who do it for a night or weekends.
‘Certainly for my family, to protect my family, from these people, as you can well understand. I have to put protections and safety of my family first and these people are never-ending.’
On the media
‘The best advice I can give on that is to be able to see through the fear. What they don’t understand is the battle we are fighting against them is far more than just us.
‘So I think one of the, what I’ve always believed, one of the strongest ways to change mindset and be able to raise consciousness and be able to create self-awareness among people, is to challenge the media and say you have a responsibility and you are accountable for everything you are feeding people because you are brainwashing people, so this is far bigger than just us.’
Bizarre exchange on Greta marrying Prince George
Fake Greta says she a distant member of the Swedish royal family
Harry replies with a chuckle: ‘Oh wow, so we are related?’
Greta says: ‘Yeah its true, and if it will help me in fighting for climate change, should I arrange a dynastic marriage, do you think? I think it’ll help.’
The two Russian pranksters claimed to be Greta and her father Svante, and contacted the prince on two occasions. Pictured: The video clip posted to YouTube with the prank call
The prince is heard responding: ‘I am certain it’ll help’
The giggling ‘Greta’ – aged 17 – then says: ‘I found some candidates that suits me – James Windsor and Prince George. ‘Their ages I think are very suitable for my marriage. It will help..’
Harry then replies laughing: ‘I am sure I can help.’
On moving penguins to the North Pole
A Russian translation of the words shows her asking: ‘Now we are dealing with an issue of moving penguins from Belarus to their native land, the North Pole.
‘About 50 penguins were stuck at customs in Belarus. That’s terrible. And we are searching for some ship maybe to transport these poor penguins to their native land.’
Greta’s fake father then said: ‘North Pole…perhaps you have some contacts for people who can help us?’
Harry replies: ‘I do have a man who deals with the North Pole.
‘He is in Norway, he can help as maybe he knows all the right people. I’ll give you the contacts on email.
This recording ends with ‘Greta’ saying: ‘That’s nice. That’s good’.