bitchy | Ben Goldsmith: ‘Tragic but true – Prince Harry’s behaviour is unforgivable’

Ben Goldsmith comes from the very prominent Goldsmith family in the UK – they are very well-connected, and Ben’s sister Jemima Khan was quite close to Princess Diana. The Goldsmiths are rich and powerful, so much so that Ben’s domestic violence incident against his first wife was swept under the rug. Well, you would imagine that the scion of a rich and powerful family would know better than to gossip to Richard Eden at the Daily Mail. You would be wrong. Ben Goldsmith said words about Prince Harry:

His sister was one of Princess Diana’s closest friends, yet financier Ben Goldsmith has nothing but contempt for his old pal Prince Harry. The Duke of Sussex’s explosive interview with the BBC last week has prompted the son of late billionaire Sir James Goldsmith to go public with criticism that his friends will say only privately.

‘Tragic but true – Prince Harry’s behaviour is unforgivable,’ Ben, below, declares.

The reference to forgiveness is thought to be in response to Harry’s admission that a reconciliation with his family would be very difficult because of his tawdry memoirs, Spare, and his criticism of them in numerous interviews.

‘Of course, some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book,’ Harry said. ‘Of course, they will never forgive me for lots of things.’

Ben, 44, is the first former pal of the duke to condemn him publicly. Harry admitted in Spare that he had lost friends over his decision to tell all to American chat show host Oprah Winfrey, including the van Cutsem family.

‘Several close mates and beloved figures in my life, including one of Hugh and Emilie’s sons, Emilie herself, and even Tiggy [Pettifer, his former nanny], had chastised me for Oprah,’ he wrote. ‘How could you reveal such things? About your family?’

Ben’s sister, Jemima Goldsmith, was so close to Diana that the princess visited her twice in Pakistan while she was married to former cricket legend Imran Khan. She agreed to help Netflix with its portrayal of Diana in The Crown before pulling out when she concluded that the story was not being treated as ‘respectfully or compassionately’ as she had hoped. ‘It was really important to me that the final years of my friend’s life be portrayed accurately and with compassion, as has not always happened in the past,’ she later explained.

[From The Daily Mail]

While Diana and Jemima Khan spent time in Pakistan, Diana actually went there to introduce herself to her boyfriend’s family. She was seeing Hasnat Khan at the time. Anyway, trust Eden Confidential to turn one sentence into a screeching column about Prince Harry. As Harry has said many times, he understands that many people from his old life will never understand why he’s chosen to speak out. The fact that he continues to tell his story and give interviews though… don’t you think that Harry is showing those people that he’s heard all of the criticism and he’s decided that it’s important for him to get his side out? Diana understood the importance of getting her side out and those horrible people are STILL lying about her, decades later.

Also: mark my words, before this is all said and done, the palace will try to get Harry’s BBC interview removed from circulation.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, BBC.