Prince Harry records a song with Bon Jovi for Invictus Games in London
Prince Harry promised to “give it a shot” as he posted a video of his recording session with Jon Bon Jovi at the famous Abbey Road studios in London.
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Prince Harry was half way there, but he needed a little help from Jon Bon Jovi to give it a shot when they recorded a charity song at the Abbey Road studios in London on Friday night Australian time.
The Duke of Sussex looked like he was living on a prayer as he joined the famous singer in the sound booth with headphones on ready to lay down his voice.
Bon Jovi, 57, and Harry, 35, were joining forces for the Invictus Games, which will be held in The Hague in May, to support wounded veterans.
Prince Harry, who insists he be called by his first name, looked nervous, but Bon Jovi reassured him.
“This is going to be really easy, pretend you’re singing in your bedroom,” he said. “It’s easy, breathe deep, shout it out.”
Prince Harry replied “OK” as they prepared to sing, according to a video posted on the @sussexroyal Instagram page.
The video was captioned: “I’ll give it a shot” in reference to a Bon Jovi song lyric from Livin’ on a Prayer, which was released in 1986 when Prince Harry was just two years old.
The Invictus Games is one of the patronages that Prince Harry was likely to continue despite stepping back as a senior royal at the end of March.
Bon Jovi, dressed in a black leather jacket, waited at the door of the studios for Prince Harry to arrive.
The Beatles recorded 11 of their 13 albums at the studios, which have become world famous.
They used the pedestrian crossing outside the studios for the album cover of Abbey Road, which was released in 1969.
CANADA WILL NO LONGER PAY FOR MEGHAN, HARRY
Canadian police have released a statement saying they will stop paying security costs for Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, within weeks.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has protected the pair and their son Archie since November because they were classified as “Internationally Protected Persons”.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex choosing to relocate to Canada on a part-time basis presented our government with a unique and unprecedented set of circumstances,” the police said. “The RCMP has been engaged with officials in the UK from the very beginning regarding security considerations.”
“As the Duke and Duchess are currently recognised as Internationally Protected Persons, Canada has an obligation to provide security assistance on an as-needed basis,” police said. “At the request of the Metropolitan Police, the RCMP has been providing assistance to the Met since the arrival of the Duke and Duchess to Canada intermittently since November 2019. The assistance will cease in the coming weeks, in keeping with their change in status.”
MEGHAN’S BFF HELPS OUT WITH WEBSITE
Meanwhile, Meghan Markle’s best friend Jessica Mulroney has reportedly registered the website sussexglobalcharities.com on behalf of Markle and Prince Harry through her own charity.
According to the Daily Mail, Mulroney registered the charity last Wednesday through her Shoebox Project charity, which supports vulnerable women.
Mulroney often babysits for Archie, and her children were pageboys and a flower girl at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018.
The news comes after Meghan and Harry released a 1,114 word essay, shared on their Sussex Royal website, outlining the details of their new roles, to take effect in spring (Australian autumn) this year.
The couple has been forced to abandon the Sussex Royal brand, after spending tens of thousands of dollars on their Sussex Royal website and trademark, after the Queen hired top lawyers to rub it out.
In the statement, they accepted they would have to farewell the branding from the end of March.
But they contended that neither the Queen nor the government owned the word “royal” across the world.
“While The Duke and Duchess are focused on plans to establish a new non-profit organisation, given the specific UK Government rules surrounding use of the word Royal, it has been therefore agreed that their non-profit organisation, when it is announced this Spring, will not be named Sussex Royal Foundation,” the statement said.
“While there is not any jurisdiction by The Monarchy or Cabinet Office over the use of the word ‘Royal’ overseas, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex do not intend to use ‘SussexRoyal’ in any territory post Spring 2020.”
Before the statement was issued, friends of Meghan believed there was no legal comeback for the Queen if they continued to use the term after quitting on March 31.
But in an unprecedented move, the Queen brought in top lawyers to block it and to outline the case in UK law banning the use of the word “royal” for financial gain, The Mirror reports.
It is the latest Buckingham Palace slapdown for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex after Megxit.
In their statement, entitled Spring 2020 Transition: “As The Duke and Duchess of Sussex continue to develop their non-profit organisation and plan for their future, we hope that you use this site as the source for factual information.
“In Spring 2020, their digital channels will be refreshed as they introduce the next exciting phase to you.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex eagerly await the opportunity to share more with you and greatly appreciate your support!”
In the longer version, the pair also appeared to complain that the palace is treating them differently to other family members, adding: “While there is precedent for other titled members of the Royal Family to seek employment outside of the institution, for The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, a 12-month review period has been put in place.
“Per the agreement The Duke and Duchess of Sussex understand that they are required to step back from Royal duties and not undertake representative duties on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen.”
It also adds that Harry remains sixth in line to the throne, and that the family are still entitled to “effective security to protect them and their son” following controversy over their protection bill – estimated to be as much as $A12 million.
Jonny Dymond, the BBC Royal Correspondent, said: “Now they have ended up really completely on the outside.
“Yes of course, there is still the family role and the private role and they are clearly always going to be members of the private side of the royal family.
“But publicly there is no role at all. No tours, no titles, nothing. And this is the final signifier.
They will not be able to use the word royal and they have agreed they will not call their foundation, their website, their social media feed.
“Any of that – it won’t have the word royal in it and it won’t be Sussex Royal.”
MEGHAN, HARRY SPY MALIBU HOME
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are reportedly looking at buying a $7 million mansion in Malibu, where their neighbours would include Robert Downey Jr and Caitlyn Jenner.
The lavish property, called Petra Manor, was once owned by Baywatch star David Charvet, and boasts eight bedrooms, six bathrooms, two terraces, a wine cellar, a swimming pool and a tennis court, the New York Post reported.
Jenner told the Loose Women talk show recently that she had heard the couple had been searching for a house in the ultra-exclusive beachside enclave, home to an array of stars including Jack Nicholson, Mel Gibson, Halle Berry and Jennifer Aniston.
The move would put them near Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland, with whom she is very close.
SOCIAL CLOUT
As Prince Harry and Meghan Markle step down from their royal duties and aim to become financially independent, social media experts have suggested they could make a very tidy living from Instagram.
Influencer marketing platform Inzpire.me estimates that the Sussex Royal Instagram account, which boasts 11.2 million followers, could attract payment of around $167,000 per Instagram post.
The estimate reflects the increase in followers of the Sussex Royal account since Harry and Meghan made the shock announcement that they were stepping back as royals.
The account’s followers increased by 9.7 per cent in the month after the announcement, compared to its previous monthly growth of 1.6 per cent.
This makes Harry and Meghan’s Instagram earning capacity double that of Prince William and Kate’s, whose @KensingtonRoyal handle is worth around $80,000 per post, according to Inzpire.me.
This week, the Queen ordered Harry and Meghan to drop their official Sussex Royal title, months after the couple spent tens of thousands of dollars to trademark it.
Once they fully step down from royal duties, Harry and Meghan will have various potential sources of income, including speaking engagements, social media posts and a book
deal, for which they could net around $15 million before any royalties are accounted for.
Prince Harry and Meghan, who are currently living in Canada, will return to the UK for their last round of royal duties next week.
HARRY ROCKS
Prince Harry will walk in the shoes of musical greats when he joins Jon Bon Jovi at Abbey Road Studios on February 28, sharing the news via a made-up text conversation with the New Jersey rock legend.
Taking to the Sussex Royal Instagram account, the Duke of Sussex shared a short video showing fake texts between himself and the pop star, alongside the caption: “Coming soon …*Disclaimer – this is not a real text conversation*”
The Duke of Sussex is set to return to the UK from Canada for the event to promote the Invictus Games, a competition for returned soldiers wounded in conflicts.
The video shows a pretend text message exchange between Harry and Bon Jovi, with the Duke showing off his dad humour.
“Just livin’ on a prayer,” Harry responds when apparently asked how he was by the singer, a reference to one of the band’s famous songs.
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Jon Bon Jovi then – supposedly – proceeds to explain that he’s in London on the 28th of February – the date the Duke of Sussex will visit Abbey Road Studios to meet him and members of the Invictus Games Choir, who are recording a special single in aid of the Invictus Games Foundation.
Quickly jumping in, Harry wittily quips: “Ha! Don’t expect me to sing … BUT I’ll give it a shot.”
The event will be the first since new details emerged of Harry and Meghan’s Megxit deal, with the Queen kicking them out of Buckingham Palace from March 31.
The couple who dropped a bombshell last month that they wanted out of the royal family are now working out their new roles.
The Bon Jovi meeting at the studios made famous by the Beatles is a sign of how they will maintain their profiles.
The event will take place on Friday, February 28, and will be one of the remaining few covered by the royal press rota, which Harry and Meghan opted out of as part of a war with the British press.
Buckingham Palace confirmed the engagement early on Friday Australian time.
“The Duke of Sussex will visit Abbey Road Studios to meet Jon Bon Jovi and members of the Invictus Games Choir, who are recording a special single in aid of the Invictus Games Foundation,” it said in a statement.
“The song will be recorded in Studio 2 at Abbey Road Studios, which was made famous by The Beatles who recorded 11 out of their 13 albums there.
“The song, called Unbroken, was created by Jon Bon Jovi to shine a spotlight on veterans living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and honour their service.”
The Invictus Games choir is made up of wounded, injured and sick veterans and serving military personnel.
The Invictus Games uses sport to give hope to injured and wounded soldiers with an Olympics-style event to help them get back on the road to recovery.
Prince Harry helped set up the games, which will be held in The Hague, Netherlands, in May.
Originally published as Prince Harry records a song with Bon Jovi for Invictus Games in London