In December 2022, the Sun published a shockingly violent and bilious screed by Jeremy Clarkson. Clarkson poured scorn and hate on the Duchess of Sussex and said that he hopes she returns to England so she can be dragged through the streets while people throw excrement at her. The kicker was that Clarkson pissed out that column right after he had lunch with Queen Camilla. The Sun eventually removed Clarkson’s column and apologized. We later learned that Clarkson sent an email apology… to Prince Harry, not Meghan. Clarkson is one of the more disgusting old men obsessed with denigrating the Sussexes. And now the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden is crowing about how Clarkson filmed an episode of his “Clarkson’s Farm” show with one of Prince Harry’s former friends. Or as Eden writed: “This won’t go down well in Montecito! One of Prince Harry’s oldest friends appears in Clarkson’s Farm with Jeremy Clarkson, who wrote notorious article about Meghan.”
Anyone who doubts the depths of the Duke of Sussex’s rift with some of his oldest and closest friends need look no further than the new series of Clarkson’s Farm. Jeremy Clarkson, you might recall, was condemned by Prince Harry last year after he wrote a notorious article in The Sun, pointing out that he hated the Duchess of Sussex on ‘a cellular level’ and adding that he wanted to see Meghan paraded through the streets, naked, while people threw excrement at her.
The Grand Tour star later apologised, but Harry’s spokesman declared: ‘What remains to be addressed is his long-standing pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories and misogyny.’
Yet, who should appear in episode seven of Clarkson’s Farm than one of the Duke’s oldest and previously closest friends. Described on the programme by Clarkson as simply ‘Hugh’, he is Hugh van Cutsem, who is seen stalking deer with the star of the hit Amazon Prime show.
After Clarkson’s comments about Meghan, Hugh’s appearance alongside him would have been unthinkable were they still pals. Hugh, 49, whose late father, also Hugh, was one of King Charles’s oldest friends, has known Harry and Prince William all their lives. William was senior usher at Hugh’s wedding, when he married Rose Astor in 2005, and is godfather to their daughter Grace.
Hugh and Rose did their bit to make Meghan feel at home after she moved here, having her and Harry to supper at their house in West London. They also attended Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018. The first indication that all may not have been well between the Van Cutsems and the Sussexes came in 2020 after the dramatic announcement that Harry and Meghan intended to ‘step back’ as senior members of the Royal Family.
Hugh’s wife, Rose, publicly mocked the dramatic announcement. ‘I am standing back as a senior member of my tax return,’ she joked on social media, ‘because I’d rather drink coffee, see my friends, love my family and do yoga.’ She later declined to discuss her comments, explaining: ‘I’m so sorry, I can’t say anything. I’m sure you understand. I’m going to be in so much trouble.’
To Richard Eden, the story is “hahaha, isn’t it funny that one of Harry’s former friends is hanging out with Jeremy Clarkson, I bet that burns Harry!” To me, the story is “anyone who willingly spends time with vile Jeremy Clarkson is completely suspect.” That goes for Camilla, that goes for Hugh van Cutsem, that goes for everyone in business with Clarkson. He’s a known racist and misogynist. That’s his brand. Why would anyone associate with him, especially someone who knows Harry and Meghan? It’s disgusting.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Jeremy Clarkson at the World Premiere of Season Two of the Amazon Prime Video Exclusive Series The Grand Tour in Brooklyn. New York City, New York – Thursday December 7, 2017.,Image: 508374398, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS- Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Dennis Van Tine / Avalon
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- 109109, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – Wednesday November 20, 2013. Hugh van Cutsem and Rose Van Cutsem attend the Sugarplum Dinner charity event held at One Mayfair, 13A North Audley Street in London. **NORTH AMERICAN USE ONLY** **FEE MUST BE AGREED PRIOR TO USAGE** **E-TABLET/IPAD & MOBILE PHONE APP PUBLISHING REQUIRES ADDITIONAL FEES**,Image: 528941041, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: FND/OIC Xclusive, PacificCoastN / Avalon
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- 120234, Hugh and Rose Van Cutsem attend the annual Royal Academy of Art Summer Party held at Burlington House in London, England. London, United Kingdom – Wednesday June 4, 2014. NORTH AMERICA & SOUTH AMERICA ONLY,Image: 533763996, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Xclusive, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- Jeremy Clarkson at the 2021 RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, East Molesey, Surrey, KT8 9AU, on Press Day, Monday 5 July 2021. All usages must be credited Sue Andrews/Avalon.,Image: 619797626, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Rights Managed, Model Release: no, Credit line: Sue Andrews / Avalon
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- Automotive journalists, of the creators of the “Grand Tour” program James May (2L), Jeremy Clarkson (R) and Richard Hammond (L) during his visit to Krakow, Poland, 24 June 2022. British journalists are preparing in Poland one of the episodes of the new, fourth series of the program.,Image: 702406277, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: POLAND OUT, Model Release: no, Credit line: Lukasz Gagulski / – / Avalon
I think his younger brother is Harry’s friend, not sure if he was the one riding around with Harry in Montecito.
Maureen is so silly, do he think Harry spends his time worry about crabs in bucket trying to get attention.
No it was Charlie van Straubenzee who visited Harry in California.
Is that Henners’ older brother?
Charlie is Henners younger brother. Henners & Harry were the same age I believe, give or take some months.
Charles and Henry Van Cutsem were good friends. It’s discussed in SPARE.
Paraphrasing, please correct me if I’m wrong, Harry made the comment that being thrown into the situation with the Van Cutsem boys was like giving pups to wolves.
I’m still utterly fascinated by the BM’s/anyone’s idea that knowing someone for a long time equates to a ‘friendship.’. We all probably have stories why that just isn’t true.imo
Hugh has got “danger” eyes.
From what I’ve read, the van Cutsems (with four boys) grew up friends with William and Harry, and it seems they are all godparents of each other’s kids. It seems apparent that the van Cutsems (or at least the vocal ones) have picked William’s side. But what else can you expect from trash aristos who enjoy their close ties with the crown?
I bring a bit of tea on this perspective as I’m married into a minor branch of an aristo family (total commoner myself I should add and of the firm opinion that the whole notion of aristocracy is utter nonsense – just to be clear!)
Anyway – I have in law relatives, one of whom’s children is married to a childhood best friend of Harry. There has been much talk of how ‘Harry has changed’ and ‘how sad it is that he’s cut everyone off’ and ‘he doesn’t speak to his friends anymore’ and ‘it’s all her (Meghan’s) fault”.
Readers, I’ve seen some of these people close up and I believe that they were what Harry thought of as friends growing up. They all hang together, go to the same schools and parties etc. but they are also (not all but often) terrible snobs that like to belittle those they see as beneath them or as outsiders. And they are also often, especially the men, arrogant arseholes with a puerile sense of humour. Do I think Harry saw them for what they are when Meghan showed him another perspective? Yep. Do I think Harry consequently realised that most of them were not real friends and that he was better off without them? Yep. Do I think he was right about that? Yep.
That makes sense. I think when you are young you have your “friends of proximity” that are in your orbit but if you are lucky when you get older you make your friends of choice. I think Harry is lucky.
thanks for the insight @Hench!
The whole idea of “harry has changed” has always bothered me because I think its clear he HAS changed a great deal – but the mere fact that someone has grown and changed doesn’t mean its a change for the worse. I would say the issue is that these people haven’t changed, haven’t lived outside their bubble, etc and their worldview is exactly what it was 20 years ago. That’s the real problem. We are supposed to grow and change and shift our priorities etc. The weirder thing is when people don’t experience that growth.
🎯
Going to add that some of those people were never really Harry’s friends. Rather they were recruited ‘safe’ playmates for William and Harry.
Harry broke the rules when he married someone who actually refused to be trampled all over. Meghan is not the pliable sort like Kate that will play by the Aristo rules.
Meghan is also very beautiful and I suspect that it really ticked off William and the other Aristos when they realised they would never have that sort of access to her that they all have come to expect in Aristo circles. Aren’t Aristo men literally expected to lay down their wives for the King or heir.
I truly believe that a source of friction between William and Harry is that Harry finally had something that William could not just claim, take away or force Harry to give up. Harry found something he prioritised above his blood bond and the crown and it shook William to the core.
When I hear people in the UK critique Meghan it is always nonsense and baseless. They all wanted Harry to be the drunken hooray Henry that Diana dreaded and feared. They didn’t love him, they were happy to stand by and watch his mistreatment and scapegoating.
Thankfully Harry escaped.
Thank you for sharing @The Hench. Meghan was another layer of what life could be for Harry. She broke the conveyor belt. Harry’s military experience, imo, is what opened his eyes/realization that a lot of people he was supposedly friends with weren’t friends. Pretty sure Skippy sold Harry out multiple times. Bye b*tch.
Remember in SPARE when Harry discussed the Vegas thing. He was required to apologize for the BRF/BM’s sake. Yet, military personnel, many that he didn’t know, went on social media sharing photos of themselves minus clothing (covering up certain personal bits). The military stood up for him. Huge.
When Harry said he had moved on, I think that included cutting off bigots or bigot condoners. Especially knowing that this creep’s wife mocked Harry and Meghan for stepping back after two years of constant abuse including while M was pregnant. None of these people could handle a fraction of the abuse.
“He looks like a date rapist!”
That’s it, I’m watching Mallrats this weekend.
But seriously – there’s something really creepy about that guy…
I always thought the Van Cutsem guys were very good looking back in the day, but you are one-hundred percent right now. What an odd group of people.
Who cares. Harry moved on.
I imagine that the royal being hurt most right now because of associations is Kate (if she’s still alive and conscious). Rose Hanbury has been much publicly aligned with C&C of late. Even her son is taking places of honor. Harry moved 5k miles away not to be around that mess. However, this is so ‘in your face’ for Kate.
PC, I think she can handle it. She’s been the one taking media punches against H&M that I have no doubt she can take care of this. I think what you need to ask yourself is does she want to continue in the brf? I honestly think at this point (she may still be recovering, who knows?) she’s the one who is refusing to do any engagements or talk to the royals. She’s in a power seat, so I doubt she’s worried about what they’re doing.
Interesting clarkson is now clout chasing off Harry’s “friends” and eden quoted the vileness in full, he comes as a slug i bet he would squirm if he is ever held accountable. hugh is 49 so 10 years older than harry i expect he is more Willy’s friend.
Look at Clarkson’s teeth!
How can anyone not? Must not have dentists in the UK.
Its not like he’s too poor.
@Tennysonsarah – I don’t want to look at those hideous rotting snagglers!
Sounds like Hugh was never a friend, and Hugh’s wife — well bless her little bitter, immature heart. People like Hugh and wife will always do what they have to do to suck up to the royals, including hanging with pond scum. That whole crowd is still embracing the pedo among them, so this is all on brand.
It proves Harry was right to cut ties with these clowns, especially the van Custems.
Seriously! Harry fell in love, and very quickly found out exactly who his real friends are.
This is what I don’t understand!
The British aristocrats see themselves as superior to the German Windsors, in every way.
And yet these same aristocrats kiss up to the BRF every chance they get?
Make it make sense.
The BRF are way more aristocratic than the van Cutsems if only through the Bowes Lyons and, for William and Harry, the Spencers. The van Cutsems are very nouveau riche. Hugh sr boosted their profile through his friendship from university with Charles. Even rose is a relative parvenu with her American great great grandfather Waldorf (the 1st viscount and American great grandmother Nancy Langhorne of a well to do Virginia family. It was Waldorf who brought in Cliveden in 1893 and later Hever (which is fascinating to visit!). . Both houses far outdated the family.
A cousin, daughter of Pauline Astor, did marry the awful David Bowes Lyon though. He was the Queen Mum’s brother.
The van Cutsems are very wealth landed gentry. The are NOT titled aristocracy.
Rose Astor has a crazy interesting family. Her grandmother was the very famous Nancy Longhorne Astor. Her sister has a daughter with Dominic West. Her step sister Annabel is Viscountess Astor since she married her stepdad’s nephew. Annabel’s daughter is Samantha Cameron. Her uncle David was a newspaper owner and editor who Nelson Mandela lauded as one of the ANC’s most loyal friends in ending apartheid. He supported numerous liberal cause. Guess all that has skipped this generation. She seems a bit of a drip.
Too late to edit but take Rose’s connections down a generation. Her great gra Nancy, her aunt not sister etc
There was a miniseries about lady astor some years ago
Didn’t the media report before that how Harry’s some friends were making misogynistic and racist jokes and they didn’t like Meghan shut that sh*t down? Of course, they were reporting it like Meghan did something wrong. So, why would anyone be surprised that some of those friends took the BRF’s side and they have the same beliefs as jeremy clarkson? They can all burn in hell together, I doubt Harry gives a sh*t while living in his mansion.
I’m sure Harry’s not bothered any longer. If his wife was making comments like that in 2020, I don’t understand why this would be shocking in 2024. Harry said he lost some friends and I’m sure once the realization that Meghan was around for the long haul, was intelligent, and wasn’t impressed with their status like they probably expected from an American sunk in, the veneer of not being shallow bigots was gone. Doesn’t sound like the Sussexes lives are less pleasant without them around. Also it’s pathological how much these people get off on the fantasy that Harry and Megan are upset about stuff. I guess that’s the only way they can get through their day, is the hope that Harry and Meghan spend all of their time obsessing over them too.
I think it more the tabloid media who get off on the fantasy that Harry and Megan are upset about stuff.
Oh that’s for sure who I meant. You can just see the glee when they label articles as, ” Look away Meghan!” , or ” Harry furious”, “Meghan seething”. The press really is invested in them being so bothered about this stuff.
Get the feeling Harry knows who these people are by this point and wouldn’t be surprised.
Because most aristos probably agreed with Jeremy, I remember an account that tweeted about being in a high society wedding and shocked at the amount of racial innuendos thrown around about Meghan, they probably also hate her because she didn’t beg or want their approval.
There’s no true friendships in the aristo circles , they’re all backstabbing, adulterous and waiting for the slightest sin to cast off one of their own. Harry is hundred times better without them
Hanging around with Jeremy Clarkson is definitely a choice. And I think most aristos do agree with him. His overt racism and misogyny gets him into all the “best” places. It’s his ticket to hang with aristos.
Sounds like he’s William’s friend reading this. 49 and Peggy is his daughter’s godfather.
This Hugh is 49 and Harry is 39. And William is their child’s godfather. That tells me everything.
Harry said that he lost friends over what he has done. But I’m also doubting how close he and Hugh were. It seems Hugh’s more William’s friend than Harry’s and he wasn’t one of the people thanked in his book.
I agree that he must be more Williams friend than Harry’s. Here’s a link to Rose and Hugh’s wedding with no sign of Harry. https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/hugh-van-cutsem-and-rose-astor-wedding
The wedding pix are actually a funny little slice of history. Laura Parker Bowles was there. As was Kate with her original body before extreme dieting. And Jecca Craig was there wearing an actual Jecca Craig hat! I mean the olive felt hat with a leather band complete with a tiny feather. I guess it’s her statement hat but it looks so out of place at a wedding.
Jecca looks interesting… and out of place.
This is why he’s a former friend.
Saw the title and wanted to write something, then I saw Kaiser wrote exactly what I was thinking: Anyone willingly spending time with that racist, sexist biggot is not a person of good standing in any way or form.
Harry shed some dead weight. Good on him.
I think Hugh looks suspiciously like a young Jeremy Clarkson.
He also resembles kramer on Seinfeld
He looks a lot like that guy who Sofia Vergara dated for a time. I don’t remember his name, but he and she froze some embryos with a written agreement not to use them if they ever broke up. They broke up, she married Joe Manganiello, and he spent a few years trying to get “custody” of the embryos so he could sweat her for 18 years of child support. This van Cutsem jerk has the same predator/azzhole vibe.
It appears that they were also close with Harry at one time, as Harry is the godfather of Nicholas van Cutsem’s daughter and she was in Harry and Meghan’s wedding. William is godfather to Hugh’s daughter and William van Cutsems is godfather to Prince George. I suppose it’s possible that the brothers chose different sides, but the ones who are talking seem to be “Team William.”
As someone who’s gone through family estrangement, I know it’s hard when you experience the collateral damage of losing longstanding friendships because they pick your toxic family and believe their lies.
Anyone who sides with William and Jeremy Clarkson is trash. It’s about time for another French Revolution.
Rose should not be so smug. She’s married to someone who hangs out with a raving misogynist and creepy man. And her husband is not loyal to friends.
Harry was closer to his younger brother Nicholas. His daughter Florence is Harry’s goddaughter and was in his wedding. Hugh’s daughter grace was in that position for William and was the very cute attendant covering her ears on the balcony.
Harry mentions their mother Emilie in Spare as one of those much loved figures who called him to chastise him over the Oprah interview. So did one of her sons but he doesn’t say who.
Personality-wise, JC is ugly inside and out, and that nauseating picture of his gross, blackened teeth is a perfect illustration. I’m conflicted about giving this cretin any attention: you shouldn’t reward sh!tty behavior, but you should correct falsehoods.
Hugh and his wife took Meghan under their wing? I’m glad after they tried to make her feel at home, she escaped their horror mansion and the Van Cutsems are no longer close enough to hurt her and Harry.
I bet he used to call Kate “the mattress”, “waity Katy” and “Wisteria sister”. He looks like a wanker.
That’s also part of the problem. Kate was called all those nasty things and said nothing about it–she was so desperate for their approval. Meghan wasn’t: that’s the problem. Meghan didn’t pass that “test”: Let us shit on you and grovel in thanks.
The difference though is that Kate could be called names, say nothing, and be approved of. With Meghan, it’s heads they win, tails you lose. If she fights back against mistreatment, she’s uppity. If she meekly accepts it, then the abuse is ‘correct.”
What I love about this reporting is that the aristos are showing the world who they are, in bright technicolor. They are saying out loud what people whispered about them. They are old and old-fashioned. The young don’t emulate them, or see them as aspirational.
The aristos can stay a passell of racists amongst themselves, as fewer and fewer people notice them or pay them importance. They are a dying remnant of a dying age.
I also think a lot of that goes to what Meghan said in the Oprah interview – rude and racist are not the same. Kate being called the mattress, Wisteria sister, etc – that was mean, that was rude. But that was not racist. they are not the same things. I can’t imagine how these people treated Meghan behind closed doors.
Maureen is grasping at straws for material to write about. Someone who used to be friends with Harry is now friends with a racist monster who’s own daughter called him out. Is this supposed to be a flex? Okay.
All this is doing is confirming that Harry made the right decision to cut these people out of his life. Also, it seems like Hugh was closer to William than to Harry anyway. And that in and of itself speaks volumes.
Clarkson’s public career should have ended after the BBC didn’t renew his contract for assaulting a Top Gear producer in 2015. He showed what he was even before the royal adjacent deranger nonsense. It blew my mind that Amazon hired him immediately after that BBC firing. The UK/Commonwealth have hundreds of super talented people that do good work and aren’t deliberately offensive for coverage. Elevate deserving talent like Stephen Fry and Alan Cumming, please.
This. Clarkson – while wildly entertaining when paired with the Top Gear team – is an abusive POS.
That he’s still economically viable in the entertainment/aristocratic world after *several* incidents of violence and abuse that led to his firing from the BBC, is shocking. But then again … Andrew. So it’s a pattern.
It is all about $$$$. Jeremy Clarkson’s “The Grand Tour” and “Clarkson’s Farm” has made major-obscene-mad money for Amazon Prime.
Some of these “friends” used to make crude remarks about Catherine’s mom as well. I do not really reading anything about William correcting them and standing up for “the woman he loves”.
Stephen Fry just went on the record, defending Kevin Spacey. 🙄
Privileged white women always back misogynoir because it helps uphold white supremacy and the patriarchy while simultaneously playing the victim. Insert mocking pointed racism and externalized misogyny on a public platform. Oh no I’ll be in so much trouble. It’s signaling to all the other racist asshats I’m one of you. What a gem this dbag married. I hope these two turds enjoy being vile. He was never a friend and their paltry attempt at civility by inviting M&H was just so they could dehumanize her and add to their racist credibility. These people are so gross. How empty and petty does one have to be to pick the abusers side and make fun of people having to step back because they aren’t allowed to exist without accepting abuse.
That picture, man please close your mouth. How is that ppl who have money don’t get their teeth fixed? Camila’s the same, I don’t get it.
I think it’s part of their aristocrat smugness. It’s like when people said Camilla smelled bad. She’s so sure of her place in their little bubble she doesn’t have to be concerned about stuff like dental or body hygiene. They consider it part of their identity like the furniture covered in dog hair. I guess Jeremy is aristo adjacent enough where he can pull it off too.
i think I finally have the Van Cutsems and the Van Straubenzee’s sorted after reading Spare. The Van Cutsems are the ones with four boys, and William and Harry got spent a lot of time with them growing up and got into insane scrapes. I think Harry’s best friend Henner who died in a car accident is the middle sun of the Van Straubenzee family and the youngest son Charlie is the one touted as one of Archie’s godparents. I think one of the Van Cutsems is married to one of the sisters of the Duke of Westminster, and all three families were friends of either Diana or Charles or both. Somewhere in there, I guess some are Team Harry and some are Team William.
Alexander van Straubenzee, the father of Thomas, Henry, and Charlie, was a friend of Diana’s. He knew her from childhood.
The van Cutsems are definitely friends of Charles.
I am glad Harry van-cut-sem of his loathsome friends.
Sounds like he is more of a family friend than a friend. I will take Tyler Perry over him any day. I wonder if he is one of the friends that mocked “Kate Middleclass.”
Why is Clarkson’s show still on? Isn’t Bezos friendly with the Sussexes?
No arguments from me that JC is a pretty terrible human being and really shouldn’t be on TV anymore. That said, I have watched some of Clarkson’s Farm (my husband is a fan from the Top Gear days) and it is genuinely pretty entertaining. It also is doing a good amount of heavy lifting to expose the difficulties and challenges faced by the farming communities of the UK. Some of that exposure is being leveraged to enact policy change to protect farms and farmers, which is very much needed. I’d like to be able to say this might be why a former friend of Harry’s agreed to be on the show, but honestly his segment was pretty shallow and he was basically just there to hunt deer with him for 10 mins.
True, but Hugh did explain about the deer problem.
Just like the UK, there are ‘deer problems” in many parts of the US just as there are “gator” problems in Florida.
Clarkson Person did not seem to me at all to relish killing a deer. He seemed very apprehensive to me to cull the deer he had in his sight.