2020-03-30_People

Scoop

Prince Harry thought he

was talking to 17-year-old

climate crisis activist Greta

Thunberg and her father,

Svante, when he dialed the

phone on Dec. 31 and

Jan. 22. In fact, waiting to

trap him on the other end of

the line were Russian

hoaxers Vladimir Kuznetsov

and Alexey Stolyarov, who

coaxed an unwitting Harry,

35, into giving his opinion on

President Trump; the next

steps for him and wife

Meghan Markle, 38; and his

relationship with the royal

family. “I’m more normal

than my family would like to

believe,” he said, adding of

Meghan’s struggles to fit in:

“I can assure you, marrying a

prince or princess is not all

it’s made out to be.”

Recordings of the chats were

released on March 10, one

Prince Harry

Hoaxed into

Opening Up

day after Meghan

and Harry wrapped

their last duties as

senior royals. “It

proves his vulnerability,”

says Ken Wharfe, who

served as a longtime

bodyguard for Princess

Diana. “This shows the

Sussexes perched on the

edge of this cliff in Canada

with little or no support.”

—SIMON PERRY

21

On President Trump

Royals are expected to stay out of politics,

but Harry said the U.S. President has

“blood on his hands” over his support for

the coal industry: “The world is being led

by some very sick people.”

On His and Meghan’s Future

“I think there’s a hell of a lot of people

around the world that can identify

[with] and respect us for putting our

family first,” the prince said. “Yeah, it’s a

tricky one, but we will start a new life.”

On Prince Andrew

“Whatever he has done or hasn’t done is

completely separate from [us],” he said of

his uncle’s links to convicted sex offender

Jeffrey Epstein. “We are completely

separate from the majority of my family.”

H o a x e r s

Unmasked

Kuznetsov (left)

and Stolyarov

posed as

Thunberg (top)

when speaking

with Harry on

two calls.

March 30, 2020

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT: MAX MUMBY/INDIGO/GETTY IMAGES; IAN FORSYTH/GETTY IMAGES; CHRIS JACKSON/GETTY IMAGES; WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES; YURI KADOBNOV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; BEN STANSALL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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