Prince Harry has claimed that the fallout from the coronavirus crisis in Britain is better than the public is being told.
Speaking from his new home in Los Angeles, the Duke of Sussex said the situation in this country is "better than we are led to believe through certain corners of the media".
However, one British medical expert said Harry’s comments were "outrageous" and another said the prince simply "hasn’t seen all the evidence".
The Duke spoke about the pandemic during an interview with former British soldier Michael Coates for a podcast called Declassified.
He said: ‘I want to say a huge thank you, as we all do, to the NHS workers and everybody that’s volunteering. Because up and down the UK, there are literally hundreds of thousands of people volunteering. It’s such a wonderfully British thing.’
The Duke, who has been handing out food to the needy with his wife Meghan in LA for the Project Angel Food charity, said he was ‘incredibly proud’ of the volunteers who have displayed the ‘very best of human spirit’.
But he then took a swipe at the media by suggesting that some news channels have been exaggerating the negative impact of coronavirus on the UK.
‘I think things are better than we’re led to believe through certain corners of the media,’ Harry said.
‘It can be very worrying when you’re sitting there and the only information you are getting is from certain news channels. But if you are on the right platforms you can really sense this human spirit coming to the forefront. I’m just so incredibly proud to see what these individuals up and down the country and across the world are doing on a day-to-day basis. What has happened, especially in the UK, shows the very best of human spirit.’
During the interview, he congratulated Captain Tom Moore, the 99-year-old British war veteran who has raised more than R611 million for NHS charities. But Harry’s comments surrounding the reporting of the state of the UK in the current lockdown period alarmed clinicians. Professor Karol Sikora, who has led antibody tests and is a former No 10 adviser, said: ‘I think these remarks are outrageous.
‘As for the media, I really don’t understand what Harry’s beef is. Journalists have been reporting the facts and have been doing great work in holding the Government to account. The media has also championed the NHS and become a key ally of doctors, nurses and key workers. They should be applauded, not vilified.’
Nadra Ahmed, of the National Care Association, suggested Harry ‘hasn’t seen all the evidence’. She told The Sun that care staff are suffering mental anguish, adding: ‘Some of the things I have heard are harrowing.’
Harry, 35, has been delivering meals to Aids sufferers and the chronically ill in LA with Meghan, 38. Project Angel Food director Richard Ayoub said he had intended to keep their philanthropic work secret until it ‘somehow’ leaked out.
There have been suggestions that the couple’s Hollywood PR firm Sunshine Sachs may have leaked the news to portray them in a positive light.