Governor Gavin Newsom popped up on the BBC to defend Prince Harry just after his bombshell interview, calling the exiled royal a ‘proud’ Californian, can reveal.
The left-wing politician and Trump bête noire dismissed claims the Sussexes are disaster tourists for turning up at the LA wildfires, insisting they do lots of work away from the glare of publicity.
Harry launched a new volley of transatlantic broadsides at his family and Britain on Friday night after losing yet another court battle in London over his demand for taxpayer-funded armed police bodyguards.
Hours later Governor Newsom, a long time defender of the Sussexes, appeared on British television to praise them.
The American politician admitted he is ‘biased’ in their favour and having got to know them he believes ‘they are proud residents [of California] – and I am proud they are residents of California’.
The Democrat also dismissed the ‘noise’ around the couple, claiming that helping people is a ‘point of pride’ for them.
He said the Sussexes have shown up in communities hit by fires and floods in California ‘without being asked’ on up to a dozen occasions since 2020 – and claimed that Harry has reached out to help many Californians on the proviso there was no media ‘attention’.
Governor Newsom said he had ‘no idea’ how Harry and Meghan’s security had been dealt with by the British state after the Prince’s defeat at the Court of Appeal in London.
But he went on: ‘I’m a little biased but I don’t know.
‘They are proud residents. And I am proud they are residents of California. I’ve gotten to know them.
‘I just want you to know, without any fanfare, one of the first volunteers within hours of the fires was Prince Harry and his wife [Meghan]. That was a point of pride. They wanted to be there and it’s not the first time. I’ve had a dozen experiences [of it]. I’m not exaggerating’.
Harry and Meghan were branded ‘disaster tourists’ by critics after they were photographed speaking to survivors of the LA wildfires earlier this year.
‘They were doing two things. They were showing up for the first responders and also showing up for the community. Without being asked they were there handing out materials and supplies, asking if they could get involved with food banks and the distribution’, Governor Newsom said of the visit.
‘I saw that with floods down in Santa Barbara and with other fires that got less attention’.
He added: ‘I have had the prince reach out to me on other causes asking “how can I get involved” in a way that doesn’t generate all the attention. That to me is a character test and that is my direct interactions’.
Returning to the security row in the UK he said: ‘All the rest, all that noise, I leave to others. And more objective minds’.
Prince Harry’s BBC interview continues to make waves.
He had claimed says he does not know how long King Charles has left to live in an emotional interview after losing his appeal in court over his security.
The Duke of Sussex said his father is not speaking to him because of his battle over taxpayer-funded police bodyguards.
He said there had been ‘so many disagreements, differences between me and some of my family’, as he admitted he couldn’t see a world in which his family would return to the UK.
But, amid another devastating broadside reopening wounds with the Royal Family, Harry told the BBC in California that he wants ‘reconciliation’.
‘He won’t speak to me because of this security stuff,’ the prince said, adding he didn’t know how long the King had left to live.
It comes just days after the King described the ‘daunting’ and ‘frightening’ experience of being told you have cancer, speaking in his most poignant update on his illness since being diagnosed 15 months ago.
The King, 76, is still undergoing regular treatments as someone ‘living with cancer’, although aides have previously said his recovery continues in a ‘very positive direction, as reflected with the very full national and international diary programme’ he is undertaking.
He said: ‘There have been so many disagreements, differences between me and some of my family this current situation that has been now ongoing for five years with regards to human life and safety is the sticking point it is the only thing that’s left.
‘Of course, some members of my family will never forgive me for writing a book, of course they will never forgive me for lots of things.
‘But you know there is, I would love reconciliation with my family there’s no point in continuing to fight anymore, as I said life is precious. I don’t know how much longer my father has, he won’t speak to me because of this security stuff but it would be nice to reconcile.
‘As I learnt through the First Nations, throughout Canada because of the Invictus games their goal in life was always truth and reconciliation and I turned around to them in many conversations and I said reconciliation can’t come without truth.
‘I’ve now found out the truth I’ve shared some of it with you today, a lot of it exists out there whether people choose to ignore it or not so it would be nice to have that reconciliation part now if they don’t want that, that’s entirely up to them.’
A Palace Spokesperson responded to the interview, saying: ‘All of these issues have been examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts, with the same conclusion reached on each occasion.’
The King was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in January last year following routine surgery for an enlarged prostate.
Buckingham Palace have not confirmed what form he has, but have ruled out it being connected with his prostate issue.
They have also not disclosed what treatment he is still undertaking.
But there is little doubt that Charles has been more open about his diagnosis and medical treatment than any other monarch in history, using his profile to raise awareness of the disease.
In an emotional interview with the BBC, when asked if the last step to repairing relations with his family was the security issue, he said ‘100 per cent’, adding: ‘Whatever noise is being created, whatever stories have been written, this has always been the sticking point.
Harry said he was ‘devastated’ after sensationally losing his court fight – putting him on the hook for £1.5million in legal costs.
‘Put yourself in my shoes, if you step back to try to create a different role, the same official role, but a different working relationship with the institution that you were born into, for the sake of your wife and your own mental health and your child, which now a lot more has come out, because I felt as though it needed to come out – the other side of the story needed to be told, God forbid anything should happen. And I don’t regret that at all.
‘But 2020, when that decision happened, I couldn’t believe it. I actually couldn’t believe it.
‘I thought, with all the disagreements and all of the chaos that’s happening, the one thing that I could rely on is my family keeping me safe.
‘And not only did they decide to remove my security in the UK, but they also signalled to every single government around the world not to protect us.’
Asked if he had pleaded with the King to intervene, he added: ‘I never asked him to intervene – I asked him to step out of the way and let the experts do their jobs.’
But he added: ‘There is a lot of control and ability in my father’s hand, ultimately this whole thing could be resolved through him not necessarily by intervening but by stepping aside allowing the experts to do what is necessary and to carry out an RMB.’
England’s second most senior judge, Sir Geoffrey Vos, told the duke his ‘grievance’ over downgraded security had not ‘translated into a legal argument’.
And he ruled the security decision had been a ‘predictable’ and even ‘sensible’ reaction to Megxit when Harry stepped back from being a senior royal and quit Britain.
Saying that he felt ‘let down’ and looking upset, he described his court defeat as a ‘good old-fashioned establishment stitch up’ and blamed the Royal Household for influencing the decision to reduce his security.