Prince Harry takes veiled swipe at Trump hours after King Charles issues surprise state visit invite

28 February 2025, 13:54 | Updated: 28 February 2025, 13:56

Prince Harry has made a veiled swipe at Donald Trump just hours after his father the King extended a historic invitation to the President for a second state visit.

The Duke of Sussex declared there is a “sickness in leadership” in politics and tech and highlighted the impact millions of people face when "basic morals and empathy are abandoned in favor of power and control".

His comments came just hours after Sir Keir Starmer handed President Trump a letter from King Charles, inviting him to the UK for a historic second state visit.

"Now this would be a great time to talk about how a sickness in leadership across sectors—from politics to tech—can have a detrimental effect on millions, if not billions, of people," Harry told the Upfront Summit.

Read more: Keir Starmer warns Putin may 'go again' in Ukraine and deal must be one 'that lasts'

"When service to others is sacrificed for personal gain. When basic morals and empathy are abandoned in favor of power and control. But I’m not gonna get into all that now!"

While Prince Harry has insisted he isn’t on the “right or left”, the work he and his wife Meghan Markle do is often at odds with President Trump.

Despite the Prince never attacking Trump in public, his wife Meghan has branded him a "misogynist" and "divisive."

Presidents serving their second term historically do not conduct a second state visit, but King Charles and Keir Starmer have evidently made the decision that charming Trump is worth the break from tradition.

Accepting the latter from Sir Keir from the White House, Trump said: "The answer is yes - and we look forward to being there and honouring the King."

He added: "It would be an honour to be there".

"This is really special. This has never happened before. This is unprecedented, and I think that just symbolizes the strength of the relationship between us," Sir Keir added.

Trump is known to be a massive fan of the British Royal Family and recently recalled his “warm and fond” memories of the late Queen Elizabeth during a meeting with Prince William.

Starmer said during Thursday's press conference he and Trump had a "very productive discussion" about a US security guarantee for a Ukrainian peace deal.

Asked if he felt satisfied about the so-called backstop after discussions with Mr Trump, he said: "Obviously, as the President says, the deal has to come first.

"But, yes, our teams are going to be talking about how we make sure that deals sticks, is lasting, and enforced. So, our teams will be talking about that."

Mr Trump said the US is working towards a "very achievable ceasefire" in Ukraine.Starmer said the UK is "all in" when it comes to backing Ukraine, days after he announced the UK would increase spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027 to deal with a "dangerous new era".

The PM also addressed plans for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, Sir Keir said history "must be on the side of the peace maker, not the aggressor".

He added that he and Trump had discussed plans to reach a peace which is "tough and fair", adding that the UK and US could both win and get things done when they worked together