Former Royal Marines captain general receives apology

Daily Mail makes donation to Prince Harry's charity

A national newspaper has apologised to the Duke of Sussex after accusing him of turning his back on the Royal Marines, where he served as captain general before withdrawing from royal duties at the beginning of 2020 and moving to California.

Prince Harry took over as captain general from the Duke of Edinburgh when he retired public service in 2017. Both were regular visitors to the Royal Marines' Commando Training Centre at Lympstone, where the duke's uncle, the Earl of Wessex was a trainee before quitting the service in 1986.

In his first visit to Lympstone as captain general in September 2018, receiving a ceremonial welcome before getting a briefing on how the service turns young recruits into Royal Marines.

The Duke of Sussex had threatened legal action against the Daily Mail for an article it published in October. On Sunday, the newspaper published an apology, saying: "An article on 25 October 2020 reported that Prince Harry had been accused by a top general of turning his back on the Royal Marines since withdrawing from his military roles in March and that, in an apparent snub to the Armed Forces, he had failed to reply to a letter from Lord Dannatt, a former Chief of the General Staff. 

“We now understand that Harry has been in contact in a private capacity with individuals in the military including in the Royal Marines to offer informal support since March and that whilst he did not initially receive the letter from Lord Dannatt referred to in the article due to administrative issues he has since replied on becoming aware of it. We apologise to Prince Harry and have made a donation to the Invictus Games Foundation.”

Both the duke and duchess are involved in a series of legal disputes with British newspapers. Prince Harry is taking action against the Sun and Daily Mirror over allegations of phone hacking. They are jointly suing photographers for taking pictures of their toddler son, Archie. The Duchess has settled a dispute with a photo agency called Splash News for invading her privacy.

The royal couple now live near Los Angeles and are pursuing media careers. In September they signed a large production deal with Netflix, saying: “Through our work with diverse communities and their environments, to shining a light on people and causes around the world, our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope. 

"As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also important to us. Netflix’s “unprecedented reach will help us share impactful content that unlocks action.”