I haven’t really talked about the still-alleged “prank call” between Russian “pranksters” and Prince Harry since the story broke. The Russians were apparently posing as Greta Thunberg and they recorded Harry (or “Harry”) talking at length about his family, politics and the environment. I only listened to a few minutes and the voice sounded like Harry, but I’m not great at spotting a lot of those deepfakes. Various reporters have sworn up and down that their “palace sources” have confirmed that it really was Harry on the phone and those same reporters are gleefully gloating about how Harry got duped and how obviously this is going to happen a million more times because Harry was so, so wrong to choose Meghan and his child over THEM. The whole thing – including the “exclusive” to the Sun – has the vibe of a tabloid set-up rather than a Russian scheme, especially since the story fits so well into the anti-Sussex narrative many reporters have already played into for two years. So, there’s more.

On Wednesday the Sun reported that two Russian tricksters pretending to be Greta Thunberg and her father called Harry and got him to open up about him about some of the issues that have kept him in the news. According to Buckingham Palace aides, the affair is proof that Harry might really need the support of royal staff. “It perhaps highlights that there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes, never publicly spoken about, to ensure things run smoothly and are hitch-free,” one said to the Telegraph. “As they move forward, they do need to invest in proper resources and have the right management, rather than adopting an approach more familiar in show business. Perhaps this incident will highlight that. Let’s hope it’s a wake-up call.”

Another aide who spoke to the newspaper was even harsher. “You can be as accessible, relaxed and as informal as the media portrays you, but as soon as you act like that, mistakes can happen,” the source said. The Telegraph also reported that Harry was forced to change his phone number and email as a result of the prank, something that is familiar to anyone who has ever been phished.

As Meghan and Harry were negotiating their exit from the royal family, plenty of palace aides turned their firepower on the couple and the way they’ve chosen to communicate with the press. Yet based on the glowing reaction to their final visit to the U.K. as working royals, a case could be made that their P.R. strategy is already working. But if Harry keeps fumbling the things us commoners figured out a long time ago, the aides will certainly look prophetic as time goes on.

[From Vanity Fair]

“It perhaps highlights that there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes, never publicly spoken about, to ensure things run smoothly and are hitch-free,” said one unnamed staffer who often says this to himself whenever he’s on the receiving end of one of Prince William’s screaming tantrums. From the quotes I saw of Harry’s interview – if it was him – he didn’t say anything bad, he was just indiscreet and silly to believe that he was actually speaking to Greta. Well, lesson learned. Why does it have to be a week-long story about how Harry will TOTALLY regret ever abandoning these poor royal reporters and these poor royal staffers? Oh, right.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid and Avalon Red.