Prince Harry defended after $1.5 million donation to children's charity fuels heated debate

Prince Harry has been fiercely defended following his $1.5 million (£1.1 million) donation to a children's charity which has fuelled a very heated debate online.

The Duke of Sussex, who stepped down as a working senior royal alongside his wife, Meghan Markle, back in 2020, made his eagerly anticipated return to the United Kingdom on Monday (8 September), to make a speech at the WellChild awards ceremony in London as the charity’s patron, a position he has held for more than 15 years.

The following day (9 September) of Harry's UK visit, which saw him attend Nottingham's Community Recording Studio - an initiative supported by BBC Children in Need where he applauded a rap performance - giving a hug to one of the young people taking part.

He later made a personal donation of £1.1m to the Children in Need project, which supports young people who have been affected by violence, telling the event: "Nottingham has been a place where I've heard harrowing stories, learned important lessons, seen resilience, and felt truly inspired."

Harry continued: "The challenges remain serious and sadly aren't getting any easier. "Violence impacting young people, particularly knife crime, continues to devastate lives, cut futures short, and leave families in grief."

He also took the time to praise the efforts of those in the city who were working to tackle issues such as 'food poverty, racism and educational inequality'.

Harry said he hoped the donation which, as we say, came from his own money rather than his Archewell organisation, would help 'changemakers in the city continue their mission to create safe spaces... and offer hope and belonging to young people who need it most'.

However, it didn't take long for the anti-Harry and Meghan brigade to come out in full force to take issue with Harry's generous donation.

Piers Morgan, a staunch critic of the couple who has a long history of blasting them on social media, seethed on X: "Prince Harry giving £1.1 million to charity on his UK ‘charm offensive’ is a comically crude attempt to buy back British people’s support. But ironically it won’t work because he’s spent years being so offensive about the Royal Family."

A second X user agreed: "Throwing £1.1 million at charity after years of sniping at the family is like trying to clean a muddy window with a used rag. It’s a nice gesture, but good luck changing the view."

"Why put it out there... just do it. Obviously it's been put out there to make him look good," declared a third while a fourth critic fumed: "Not genuine! He is trying to buy his way back into the UK & The Royal Family. He realises things have moved on & he is now irrelevant."

And a final X user scrawled: "Prince Harry really thinks dropping £1.1M into charity is some kind of magical reset button for years of interviews, Netflix specials, memoirs, and carefully crafted 'woe is me' narratives. This man spent half a decade cashing in on dragging the Royal Family at every possible turn, then suddenly remembers the UK exists when it’s time for a 'charm offensive'. Newsflash: the British public has the memory of an elephant when it comes to royal drama, and no amount of charity cheques can rewrite the fact that you willingly torched the very institution you were born into.

"You can’t buy back goodwill when you’ve already sold the story — and in this case, £1.1M looks less like generosity and more like a desperate PR investment. The monarchy isn’t a broken subscription service where you can just pay a fee and resubscribe — once you cancel, that’s it."

Many, many others, however, defended the Duke against such remarks with one X user writing: "It’s personal so yes it’s genuine. Would you be questioning if Prince William did the exact same thing or would you be praising him?"

"Did the charity get the £1.1 million? If so then yes it’s genuine, if not then no it’s not. Happy to help!" quipped a second while a third lamented: "Yes I think it’s genuine !!!!! My god, he’s dammed if he does and dammed if he doesn’t!"

A fourth pointed out: "if it helps kids have safer spaces, that’s a step in the right direction. Just hope the charm doesn’t drown out the real impact. What do you reckon?"

"They list the gifts of money they give in the royal foundation accounts. Harry’s donation dwarfs their community action grants," penned a fifth, while another questioned: "If all acts of charitable works are more dignified when done privately then why do cameras follow members of the royal family every single time they step out to do even a minute of charity work?

"When you don't stand for anything, you fall for everything."

And a final X user praised: "THIS is what genuine caring, empathy, and desire to help make people's lives a bit brighter looks like. The rest of the RF could never......!! He just genuinely loves people and has his mother's heart. Shame on the RF for losing such a great asset."