Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he made a “pathetic” attempt to convince Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to stay in the UK.
Speaking to Camilla Tominey on GB News, Johnson said he was concerned about the country losing a valuable asset as the Sussexes set their sights on life across the pond.
It comes after the former prime minister revealed he held a 20-minute one-to-one ‘catch-up’ with Harry without aides present, where he made his pitch.
But in Johnson’s own words, he “failed to avert Megxit, but I did deliver Brexit”.
Boris Johnson made a failed attempt to convince the Sussexes to stay in Britain
PA / GB NEWS
In the sit-down with Camilla, he told GB News: They [Meghan and Harry] came to an event we did for female education.
“They were brilliant and she [Meghan] was particularly good and articulate on it. I got on well with both of them.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Boris Johnson joined Camilla Tominey on GB News
GB NEWS
“I also worked with Harry when he did his Invictus Games for disabled veterans in the Olympic Park.”
He added: “I thought, in a bit of pomposity, this national asset is leaving our country.
“I thought he, on the whole, could be a force for good so I’m going to try and discourage him.
“I had a pathetic attempt at that. It didn’t work. I failed to avert Megxit, but I did deliver Brexit.”
Boris Johnson joined Camilla Tominey in the GB News studio
GB NEWS
Meghan and Harry stepped back from royal duties in 2020
Getty
Johnson first made the revelation in his memoir, Unleashed, which is being serialised in the Daily Mail.
The talk is said to have happened in January 2020, but Johnson lamented what he felt was a “totally hopeless” task.
It came at a time where Harry’s rift with the Royal Family was at its most pronounced, as the meeting came the day after a speech in which the prince had said he had “no other option” but to step down from his royal role.
It was a “ridiculous business… when they made me try to persuade Harry to stay. Kind of a manly pep talk. Totally hopeless”, he wrote.
The meeting had not been mentioned in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix film or Harry’s own memoir, Spare.
You can watch the full interview with Boris Johnson on the Camilla Tominey Show, from tomorrow at 9.30am.