Boris Johnson made an extraordinary last-ditch effort to convince Prince Harry not to leave Britain.
The former Prime Minister reveals in his sensational new memoir that he was asked to give the Duke of Sussex a ‘manly pep talk’ to convince him it would be a mistake to leave Britain for a fresh start abroad with his wife Meghan.
Mr Johnson’s new book, Unleashed, will appear in the Daily Mail from Saturday and is already tipped to be the political memoir of the century.
He reveals that in January 2020, just weeks after his landslide election victory, officials in Downing Street and Buckingham Palace thought he might be able to talk Harry out of his seismic decision to leave the United Kingdom and walk away from his royal duties.
The ex-prime minister writes that it was ‘a ridiculous thing… when they let me try to persuade Harry to stay. A kind of male pep talk. Totally hopeless.’
Prince Harry and Boris Johnson on the day of the January 2020 meeting where the former Prime Minister made a last-ditch effort to convince Prince Harry not to leave Britain
Boris Johnson made an extraordinary last-ditch effort to convince Prince Harry not to leave Britain. The photo shows the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at an event in London in March 2020
Mr Johnson’s explosive new book will delve into some of his relationships with other members of the royal family. The photo shows the late Queen Elizabeth II and her son, King Charles
The secret meeting, which underlines the close ties between No 10 and the Palace, took place on the sidelines of a Britain-Africa investment summit in London’s Docklands.
It came just hours after the duke gave an emotional speech in which he said he and Meghan were leaving with “great sadness” but felt they had “no choice” but to step away from royal life.
The two men met without aides for 20 minutes as Mr Johnson tried to persuade the prince to reconsider.
A friend said Mr Johnson paid tribute to Harry’s efforts at the Invictus Games and praised Meghan’s work on their shared passion for promoting education for women and girls in developing countries.
“He thought they were a great asset to UK plc and it was a real shame they left when they were doing such a great job,” the friend said.
‘It was a man to man conversation, they were all alone. But Harry was not in favor of turning around; he could no longer be convinced at that moment.
“Boris managed Brexit, but even he couldn’t stop Megxit.”
The next day, Harry flew to Canada to be reunited with Meghan and their son Archie. The family later moved to Montecito, California, where they still live, after giving up their lives as working Royals.
The publication of Mr Johnson’s memoirs threatens to overshadow the Conservative Party conference, which opens in Birmingham on Sunday.
Harry and Meghan left Britain for a fresh start abroad in 2020. The couple now lives in Montecito, California
Mr Johnson’s book will offer candid insights into his relationship with the late Queen and other members of the royal family, including his last meeting with the monarch in 2022
It will set out Mr Johnson’s views on the Tory machinations that forced him out in the summer of 2022. And the former prime minister will pass judgment on the record of his successors, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, as he questions whether the Tories’ crushing election defeat could have been avoided.
He promises to reveal ‘what I really think about Rishi’ and ‘how and why I’ve learned to keep my old friend Michael Gove firmly in the side mirror’.
In typically colorful style, he also offers to spill the beans on “what makes a senior politician look like an ox with a thermometer unexpectedly stuck up his rectum” and “how I became obsessed with a certain Prime Minister’s oddly shaped nostrils” .
And he will consider his own political future after being ostracized by his MPs and a vengeful Labor Party. In a video teaser last night, he asked the tantalizing question: “Am I coming back?” adding: ‘Read the Daily Mail and find out.’
The book, which covers his years in politics, will detail the run-up to the Brexit referendum, the furious campaign and the consequences of the biggest political earthquake in a generation.
Mr Johnson will set out his response to David Cameron’s shock decision to resign in the wake of the Leave vote – and how his battle to succeed him collapsed when he was betrayed by his Vote Leave colleague, Mr Gov.
The former Prime Minister will also detail the battles with Parliament, the courts and his own MPs as he fought for the outcome of the vote to leave the EU.
In his book, Johnson promises to reveal ‘how and why I learned to keep my old friend Michael Gove firmly in the wing mirror’. He is pictured with Mr Gove (right) in 2016 on the Brexit campaign trail
And he will reveal details of the stormy negotiations with EU leaders who feared that passing Brexit could trigger the collapse of the entire bloc.
In a promotional video on MailOnline, Johnson said French President Emmanuel Macron was “always charming in person” but added: “He really meant it when he said Brexit Britain should be punished.”
Mr Johnson will also detail how his government grappled with a once-in-a-century pandemic – telling for the first time the full story of how Covid almost killed him.
The former prime minister will reflect on the Partygate scandal that toppled him less than three years after winning elections that seemed to give him a decade in power.
And he will explain how he fought to convince world leaders to rally behind Ukraine and its inspiring president, Volodymyr Zelensky, after Vladimir Putin’s invasion in 2022.
The book will provide candid insights into his relationship with the late Queen and other members of the royal family, including his final meeting with the monarch when he traveled to Balmoral to tender his resignation just days before she died in September 2022.
In his video clip, he said readers will also “discover what the Queen said to me after her incredible performance with James Bond at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games.”