This Is What the Royals Are Really Like

A royal insider has revealed what Prince Harry and Prince William are like behind closed doors.

Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, who formerly served as the private secretary for both of King Charles’s sons, appeared on The Royalist podcast to detail what he witnessed when he was in proximity to the two princes during their young adult lives.

“Very soon after starting work with them, I realized that they were both great guys. I really loved them, actually. I mean, they were really, really fun to be with,” Lowther-Pinkerton, 66, told the podcast. “I have to say, I never really did keep up with them, but I was very, very fond of them, and I still am—both of them, actually.”

Lowther-Pinkerton served as a private secretary for the two princes from 2005 through 2013, when Harry, 41, and William, 44, were both in their twenties.

Host Tom Sykes asked Lowther-Pinkerton, who was described positively by Harry in his 2023 memoir, Spare, about what it meant to realize the appreciation that Harry had for him.

Lowther-Pinkerton, who is a godfather to William’s son, Prince George, answered that he felt “very privileged” to have served as the princes’ aide.

“I loved it. I think the point of working for them when I did is that it was in their twenties,” he explained. “I think one of my principal objectives was really to sort of be able to allow them to, or enable them, with others’ help, to get to a position where, at the end of their twenties, they could say—as my Irish father would have said—you know, we have known the days, and we’ve got it right.”

Lowther-Pinkerton added, “They both wanted to be soldiers, they both wanted to serve their country, and both of them, in different ways, went on operations and got that sort of feeling of being there and done it.”

The Daily Beast has reached out to the Sussexes and Kensington Palace for comment.

Harry served in the British Army for 10 years, becoming an Apache Aircraft Commander and completing two tours of duty in Afghanistan. William served in the U.K. armed forces for over seven years, including three years as a full-time search-and-rescue pilot with the Royal Air Force.

“Obviously, we dipped our toes into all of the other stuff—the sort of overseas tours, and the sort of charitable side, which they were very, very knowledgeable about—much more knowledgeable than I would ever be about it because they’d lived it all their lives,” Lowther-Pinkerton said. “That was the sort of emphasis for me, was to make sure that their twenties were—they were able to hit the goals they wanted to.”

Join veteran royal correspondent Tom Sykes in the throne room to find out how the secret world of the palace really operates—every bit of royal tea you could need. New Royalist podcasts will be released every Tuesday on YouTube, and the next day on all podcast platforms.