Dominic West, the actor who plays the current King Charles III of the United Kingdom in the last two seasons of the Netflix series The Crown, revealed why he stopped being friends with Prince Harry and surprised by recounting the particular event that distanced him from him.
The 54-year-old English actor hasn't spoken to Harry for more than a decade. They had a "close" friendship until West screwed up...
Their bond was broken in 2013, after the end of a charity excursion in Antarctica in which they participated with Commonwealth war veterans.
On his return, West gave a press conference where he told some things that he supposedly experienced with his friend in the company of the ex-combatants and Harry did not like that at all.
"In a way, I said too much about him during a press conference," West admitted on Britain's Sunday Morning show. "It got out of hand," he said.
What did Dominic West say that made Harry so angry?
"We all drank champagne from Duncan's (a double amputee injured in Afghanistan in 2009, who was on the British team) favourite prosthetic leg," West revealed at the conference at the time.
"I said too much in a press conference so we didn't speak after that."
Stars of the The Crown Dominic West and Jonathan Pryce reveal their run-ins with the royal family, including why one of them is no longer on speaking terms with Prince Harry.@KateEMcCann | @adamboultonTABB pic.twitter.com/iJgCyrLtjp
— Times Radio (@TimesRadio) December 23, 2023
He continued, "Well, the prince told some incredibly rude jokes that for a non-soldier like me were quite shocking."
Disgusted by his friend's revelations, Harry was keen to downplay his anecdotes: "Inspiring others is one of the cornerstones of this charity. To prove to those who have suffered life-changing injuries as much as possible."
From that day on, the prince spoke to him no more.
The aftermath of the conference
When the show's host asked him for more information, West had no problem continuing to reveal intimacies with his former friend.
"He seemed to be specialized in assembling bathrooms. He built an incredible battlement-like structure out of brick blocks to keep the wind out. I even had a toilet paper roll holder," he detailed, adding, "Sitting there, taking in the beautiful view, thinking 'this is a royal throne, in every way.'"
Prince Harry referred to the episode in his memoir In the Shadows. Photo: EFE
Harry referred to the subject again in his memoir In the Shadows. There he writes: "Some newspaper reports say that one of the soldiers took off his leg and we used it as a jug to drink champagne, which sounds good, although I don't remember it. I've drunk alcohol from multiple prosthetic legs throughout my life, and I can't swear that wasn't one of the occasions."
For this reason, West couldn't ask him for advice on how to best play his father in The Crown.
The Crown. William (Rufus Kampa), Charles (Dominic West) and Harry (Fflyn Edwards).
As a color fact, it is worth noting that Senan, Dominic's son, was chosen to play William in the fifth season of the series (the production also wanted him for season 6, but his father did not let him. "I wouldn't have liked it," West said.)
The final season of The Crown, season 6, premiered in two parts between November and December of this year.