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Prince Harry has spoken about the breakdown of his relationship with brother William and blamed the media for Meghan suffering a miscarriage in the final episodes of the couple’s documentary series.

The second volume of Harry & Meghan goes much further than the first, with Harry accusing William of screaming and shouting at him at a summit meeting over “Megxit”, and saying he believes he and his wife lost their baby in 2020 because of coverage in the Mail.

‘She never asked me to leave’, Harry says – live updates as final episodes drop

Other revelations include the duke saying a joint statement was put out without his permission in his and his brother’s name, denying a story that William had “bullied” him out of the Royal Family. He also accuses William’s office of trading stories – something they “promised” they would never do when they were younger.

Palace aides would have been preparing themselves for bombshells in the second volume after a trailer included accusations that the royal household leaked negative stories as part of a “war against Meghan”. However, they are yet to comment on the programme.

Harry & Meghan. The Netflix Global event continues December 15.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9WMpiH8qd8
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Pic: Netflix

Key talking points from the first three episodes:

  • Harry says it was “terrifying” to hear William ‘shout and scream’ during Megxit crisis meeting
  • He says there is now a “wedge” between them and accuses brother’s office of trading stories
  • Duke also blames media for Meghan’s miscarriage in 2020
  • Meghan talks about suicidal thoughts
  • Harry says he was “trained” to keep stiff upper lip over wife’s struggles
  • He also describes how Meghan “stealing the limelight… that upsets people”
  • Broadcaster Danny Baker’s tweet following birth of Archie also addressed

‘It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me’

Talking about tweet - "Meghan needs to die"
Screen Grabs taken from Harry and Meghan  Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan
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Pic: Netflix

In the fifth episode, Harry recalls a meeting with the Queen, his father and William, now the Prince of Wales, about the couple’s future plans after they had announced they wanted to step back as senior royals.

Recalling what happened behind the scenes after the Queen summoned them to Sandringham in January 2020, he says: “I went in with the same proposal that we’d already made publicly, but once I got there I was given five options – one being all in, no change, five being all out.

“I chose option three in the meeting – half in, half out. Have our own jobs but also work in support of the Queen.

“It became very clear very quickly that goal was not up for discussion or debate. It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me and my father say things that just simply weren’t true. And my grandmother, you know, quietly sit there and take it all in.

“But you have to understand that, from the family’s perspective, especially from hers, there are ways of doing things and her ultimate, sort of, mission, goal/responsibility is the institution.”

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Queen Elizabeth, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex pose for a picture with some of Queen's Young Leaders at a Buckingham Palace reception following the final Queen's Young Leaders Awards Ceremony, in London, Britain June 26, 2018. John Stillwell/Pool via Reuters/File Photo

Harry says the Queen would act on advice she was given by staff.

“People around her are telling her, ‘by the way, that proposal, or these two doing X,Y, Z is going to be seen as an attack on the institution’,” he says.

“The meeting finished without any solidified action plan. I think from their perspective, they had to believe that it was more about us, and maybe the issues that we had, as opposed to their partner, the media, and that relationship that was causing so much pain for us. They saw what they wanted to see.”

Read more:
Unseen photos revealed in new episodes from Netflix series
Harry and Meghan’s wedding album – new pictures revealed
Key revelations from first three episodes

Screen Grabs taken from Harry and Meghan  Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan
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Pic: Netflix

Harry goes on to say the “saddest part” of what has happened is “this wedge created between myself and my brother, so that he’s now on the institution’s side”.

The duke continues: “And part of that I get, I understand, right, that’s his inheritance. So to some extent it’s already ingrained in him that part of his responsibility is the survivability and continuation of this institution.”

Harry says a story came out that day saying that “part of the reason that Meghan and I were leaving was because William had bullied us out”.

A joint statement was issued on the day of the Sandringham meeting branding a front page story about the brothers’ relationship as false, offensive and potentially harmful.

Harry says he was told about the statement “squashing the story about him bullying us out of the family” after the meeting. “I couldn’t believe it. No one had asked me permission to put my name to a statement like that.

“I rang M and I told her and she burst into floods of tears, because within four hours they were happy to lie to protect my brother and yet for three years they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.”

Meghan’s mother and Harry speak of devastation hearing she contemplated suicide

Harry & Meghan. The Netflix Global event continues December 15.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9WMpiH8qd8
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Pic: Netflix

In the fourth episode, Harry speaks about “lies” in the Royal Family, and compares Meghan’s treatment in the media to that of his mother, Diana.

“The lies that’s one thing, you kind of get used to that when you live within this family, but what they were doing to her and the effect it was having on her – like, enough, enough of the pain, enough of the suffering.”

As shots of Diana and Charles are shown, he continues: “No one sees what is happening behind closed doors. Back in the day my mum was in the back of the car going to engagements in floods of tears, and then my dad saying, ‘we’re almost there’ and 30 seconds to wipe the tears away, slap on some make-up, and the door opens and smile, everything is fine.”

Meghan talks about having suicidal thoughts – something she spoke about previously during the couple’s interview with Oprah in 2021.

A new Harry & Meghan trailer has been released for their Netflix docuseries.
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Pic: Netflix

“All of this will stop if I’m not here and that was the scariest thing about it, it was such clear thinking,” she says in the documentary.

Her mother, Doria Ragland, recalls finding out how her daughter was feeling: “I remember her telling me that she had wanted to take her own life and that really broke my heart because I knew that it was bad, but to constantly be picked at by these vultures, just picking away at her spirit that she would actually think of not wanting to be here, that’s not an easy one for a mum to hear. And I can’t protect her.”

Harry says he was “devastated” when he realised just how much his wife was struggling.

“I knew that she was struggling, we were both struggling, but I never thought it would get to that stage and the fact that it got to that stage, I felt angry and ashamed,” he says. “I didn’t deal with it particularly well. I dealt with it as institutional Harry as opposed to husband Harry, and what took over my feelings was my royal role.

“I had been trained to think, ‘what are people going to think if we don’t go to this event, we are gonna be late’, and looking back now I hate myself for it.”

Meghan says she wanted to get help but “wasn’t allowed”.

‘To see my brother’s office copy the very same thing… that was heartbreaking’

Britain's William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry march during a procession where the coffin of Britain's Queen Elizabeth is transported from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament for her lying in state, in London, Britain, September 14, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier

Speaking about the press interest, Harry says: “No one would have private conversations with the editors saying ‘enough’. My dad said to me, ‘darling boy, you can’t take on the media, the media will always be the media’. And I said I fundamentally disagree.”

Harry then says: “I have 30 years experience of looking behind the curtain and seeing how this system works and how it runs and just constant briefings about other members of the family, favours inviting the press in, it’s a dirty game.”

He also speaks about the “leaking” and “planting of stories” – an issue addressed by Meghan in the preview trailer. “So if the comms team want to be able to remove a negative story about their principal, they will trade and give you something about someone else’s principal, so the offices end up working against each other, so it’s kind of a weird understanding, acceptance that this happens,” he says.

He says he and William “both saw what happened in our dad’s office and we made an agreement to never have that happen to our office”.

With images of the brothers as children shown on screen, the duke says: “I would far rather get destroyed in the press than play along with this game or this business of trading, and to see my brother’s office copy the very same thing that we promised the two of us would never ever do, that was heartbreaking.”

Harry also says he believes Meghan suffered a miscarriage “because of what the Mail did”.

He says: “I watched the whole thing. Now, do we absolutely know that the miscarriage was created, caused by that? Course we don’t. But bearing in mind the stress that it caused, the lack of sleep and the timing of the pregnancy, how many weeks in she was, I can say from what I saw, that miscarriage was created by what they were trying to do to her.”

Meghan’s letter to her father

Thomas Markle fears he will never see his daughter again

The final three episodes of the series also take a look at a letter written by Meghan to her father, Thomas Markle, about interviews he was giving, which was published in part by the Mail on Sunday.

She says she wrote it after seeking advice from the Queen and Charles, but that she tried to send it discreetly.

“People are scratching their heads going, ‘how would the Mail have either the stupidity, or the whatever you want to call it, to print a letter between a daughter and a father?'” says Harry. “Well the answer is simple: they knew the family would encourage us not to sue.”

In the end, they did sue – with Meghan winning her privacy claim. However, she was awarded just £1 compensation from the Mail On Sunday’s publisher for misuse of private information.

‘Then one day this little organism comes in’

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‘When someone steals the limelight, it upsets people’

Meghan also says the couple’s former private secretary told her about the monarchy: “It is like a fish that is swimming perfectly. It is powerful, it is on the right current. Then one day this little organism comes in. This foreign organism. And the entire thing goes… What is that? What is it doing here? It doesn’t look like us. It doesn’t move like us. We don’t like it. Get it off of us.

“And she just explained that, you know, they’ll soon see, that it’s stronger, faster, even better with this organism as part of it. It will be hard at the beginning for them to adjust to this new thing but then it’ll be amazing.”

Meghan added: “And I was really hopeful that that was true.”

The episode addresses the couple’s initial popularity following their wedding and when they announced they were having their first child, and how this affected the Royal Family.

“The issue is when someone who is marrying in who should be a supporting act is stealing the limelight or doing the job better than the person who was born to do this, that upsets people, it shifts the balance,” says Harry.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s death

Prince Harry and Prince Philip

The final episode shows Harry watching footage of black cabs in London lining The Mall as a mark of respect following the death of Prince Philip in 2021.

Speaking about his grandfather’s death, Harry says: “I was actually really happy for my grandfather. He went quietly. He went peacefully. He went happily.”

Asked about what it was like returning to the UK for the funeral, he adds: “It was hard, especially spending time having chats with my brother and my father who just were very much focused on the same misinterpretation of the whole situation.

“So none of us really wanted to have to talk about it at my grandfather’s funeral, but we did. I’ve had to make peace with the fact that I’m probably never going to get genuine accountability or a genuine apology.

“You know, my wife and I, we’re moving on. We were focused on what’s coming next.”

Danny Baker’s tweet

Screen Grabs taken from Harry and Meghan  Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan
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Pic: Netflix

Harry also speaks in the series about broadcaster Danny Baker’s infamous tweet following the birth of baby Archie.

The radio presenter posted a black and white photo showing a well-dressed man and woman holding hands with a suited chimpanzee, captioning it: “Royal baby leaves hospital.”

“The amount of abuse that we got, especially you (Meghan), but the both of us, for not wanting to serve our child up on a silver platter was incredible,” says Harry.

“Someone in the media posting a photograph of a couple with a chimp, and at the top it said, ‘Royal baby leaves hospital’. So that was one of the first things that I saw.”

Baker later apologised, writing: “Sorry my gag pic of the little fella in the posh outfit has whipped some up. Never occurred to me because, well, mind not diseased.”

Read more:
Row over whether Royal Family were approached for series
‘I’ve always been a hugger’: Meghan on meeting the royals for first time

The final episodes of Harry & Meghan come a week after the first three launched, recording 81.55 million viewing hours so far, translating to viewing in 28 million households, according to Netflix.

The streaming platform has launched the series almost three years after the Sussexes revealed they intended to “step back as ‘senior’ members of the Royal Family and work to become financially independent”.

They officially left the monarchy in March 2020 and went on to sign lucrative deals, thought to be worth more than £100m, with Netflix and Spotify.

Before the first episodes were released, it emerged a photo and footage shown in two preview trailers, apparently to illustrate hounding by the paparazzi, were from events the couple were not associated with.

Neither Kensington Palace, which represents the Prince and Princess of Wales, nor Buckingham Palace have commented on the series.

Sky News understands palace officials are focused on the Princess of Wales’s carol service, which is due to be filmed at Westminster Abbey on Thursday.

The event will aim to shine a light on a congregation of almost 2,000 people who have been helping their communities across the UK, as well as remembering the Queen’s legacy.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.

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Online sleuths and fake news: The world of missing people and the torture their families have to endure

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Online sleuths and fake news: The world of missing people and the torture their families have to endure

“When will it end, when will it stop?” It’s the question that Jay Slater’s mother still can’t answer.

The constant stream of vitriol, misinformation, and abuse online has continued every day for the past 18 months.

“I’ve just been absolutely crucified and ripped to pieces,” Debbie Duncan told us, as she read out the online comments that have hurt the most:

• “Debbie deserved to lose her son”
• “How can you possibly respect a mother grifting off her own son’s death?”
• “How do you know it’s Jay in that coffin – he needs digging up.”

“Just scroll, scroll and scroll, and they are still there,” Debbie said. “Jay’s just been dehumanised.”

Families of Jay Slater (left) and Andrew Gosden (right) have spoken of horrific online abuse following the disappearance of their loved ones
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Families of Jay Slater (left) and Andrew Gosden (right) have spoken of horrific online abuse following the disappearance of their loved ones

There are hundreds of millions of pieces of Jay Slater content online, and it’s constantly being created – even after a coroner ruled his fall in a remote ravine in Tenerife was a tragic accident.

“I don’t think I’d be here if I sat every day and read everything that was being said,” Jay’s mum told us.

Conspiracy theories about Jay have persisted online
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Conspiracy theories about Jay have persisted online

This is why she is campaigning – in her son’s name.

She has tried and failed many times to get misinformation and the worst abuse taken down from online platforms.

“We just want to have some legislation around content,” she said.

“It’s about the [social media] platforms having that responsibility to take down the misinformation, the harassment, bullying.”

Jay's family has become a victim of a surge in online sleuthing
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Jay’s family has become a victim of a surge in online sleuthing

New levels of tragedy trolling

Jay’s case took the febrile world of online sleuthing and tragedy trolling to new levels.

Her campaign to give a degree of control back to families suffering this abuse is backed by the charity Missing People.

They work with a growing number of relatives being attacked online and trying to tackle callous misinformation.

“It feels quite out of control,” Josie Allan from the charity told us.

“We know with the development of AI, there’s going to be even more complicated issues.

“People creating fake news about missing cases, potentially making fake content using missing people’s faces or voices.

“We know that that would just be horrendous for families to have to see and could really misdirect police resources and investigations.”

Josie Allan from the charity Missing People
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Josie Allan from the charity Missing People

Bogus posts of missing people

Malicious content like this is appearing more regularly.

Anonymous accounts create bogus missing people posts – often it sits in front of a fake advert or has a link to a scam website.

It exploits the natural goodwill people feel towards missing person cases.

In Australia, the search for a missing boy, Gus Lamont, was recently disrupted by a fake AI image of a man carrying what appeared to be the four-year-old.

It wasn’t real.

It is an emerging and disturbing problem for people searching for a loved one.

In the UK, the family of Andrew Gosden, who has been missing for the past 18 years, has been through a similar ordeal.

Kevin Gosden’s son was 14 years old when he disappeared in 2007.

Andrew caught a train to London from his hometown of Doncaster, South Yorkshire.

His family has never given up hope of him returning.

Andrew Gosden's family have never given up hope of finding him
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Andrew Gosden’s family have never given up hope of finding him

Father close to breakdown

“Just before the 18th anniversary of Andrew’s disappearance… we suddenly became aware that there were articles online circulating and being shared,” his father told us.

“Claiming that Andrew’s body had been found, that his DNA had been found somewhere… the police have been concealing some CCTV footage with him.

“Utter nonsense. None of that’s true.

“If you’ve got a lot of false information out there, it just doesn’t help find the lad we love.

“We need to know that Andrew is still being looked for.

“I have been very close to what I know is going to be a breakdown, again with it a number of times.”

Kevin Gosden
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Kevin Gosden

Clicks are driving content

The monetisation of clicks online is one of the driving forces behind this constant stream of content.

At the CrimeCon conference in Manchester, we spoke to true crime content creators and fans of this growing genre about where the moral boundaries lie.

Andy Hobbs, who sells murder mystery games, told us: “Unfortunately, views means more money. And until that gets looked at, I don’t think any regulation will come in.

“It’s in the interest of social media networks to get more views, more hits.”

Andy Hobbs speaks to Sky's Tom Parmenter
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Andy Hobbs speaks to Sky’s Tom Parmenter

Ruth Berry, a true-crime fan, pointed out that online investigators can, in some instances, turn up new information: “They’ve helped solve in some cases, haven’t they?

“They’ve helped to unpick things that maybe authorities haven’t had the resources to do, and they’ve had the time and the resources to do.

“But also is it their jurisdiction and is that evidence actually valid and reliable? Because how did they get hold of it, who knows?”

Annie Robinson and Beth Kent host the Grave Secrets true-crime podcast.

“It’s not something you can control, is it really?” Annie said.

True crime podcasters Annie Robinson and Beth Kent
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True crime podcasters Annie Robinson and Beth Kent

Beth added: “Everyone obviously deserves to have their say, I think I would just be mindful and cautious that you are having an opinion knowing that nobody has all the facts.

“It’s sort of easy to talk about it, as in like, it’s not a real person you’ve got to remember these are still victims and victims’ families,” Annie added.

Some sleuths ‘very dangerous’

“Some amateur sleuths are very dangerous,” forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes told Sky News.

“Because people want their 15 minutes of fame on social media we can’t do things that knowingly hamper police investigations.

“You know, in any other world that would result in a prosecution.

“So I think that we do need to clamp down on those small number of people who do actually cause a great amount of carnage and damage.”

Forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes
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Forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes

Some content creators have turned up to insert themselves into active police searches but the wider problem of misinformation online is also hindering officers.

Read more from Sky News:
Police failed to tackle social media risks
Conspiracy theories are disrupting police

Fake news ‘misdirecting police’

Assistant Chief Constable Damien Miller, the national policing lead for missing persons, told us: “It takes policing away from those inquiries that we need to be following, because it’s fake, it’s false information.

“It’s hurtful, it is harmful to the families, but it’s also then misdirecting police investigations.

“People have freedom of speech, but there is a line and what I would say to those members of the public is please do not cross that line.

Assistant Chief Constable Damien Miller
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Assistant Chief Constable Damien Miller

He, too, would like to see social media companies helping remove misleading content sooner.

‘I wouldn’t wish it on anyone’

“I think what we need to do is work with those providers to make sure that when mis or disinformation is put on social media, that it’s removed at its earliest opportunity because otherwise it gains momentum,” he said.

That incessant flow of content is what Jay’s mum, Debbie Duncan has been hit by. She is determined to do all she can so that other families don’t have to go through the same ordeal.

“I wouldn’t wish it on anybody what we have been through,” she said while contemplating everything that’s happened.

She has kept boxes of cards and gifts in Jay’s bedroom at home in Lancashire – reminders of all the compassion and support they have received as well as the online hatred.

“It’s torture,” she said while looking at the many photos of her son.

“I just look at his picture and if it’s the last thing I can do for you Jay – I’ll try my blimmin’ hardest.”

Debbie’s petition can be found here.

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Police seize £80,000 of suspected stolen tools from car boot sale

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Police seize £80,000 of suspected stolen tools from car boot sale

Around £80,000 worth of suspected stolen power tools have been seized by police at a car boot sale in west London.

The Metropolitan Police recovered 400 items in the operation on 11 December.

Two men, aged 55 and 54, and two 15-year-old boys have been arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods.

The objects seized by officers at the Hounslow Heath car boot sale included power drills, nail guns, electric saws, and a concrete mixer.

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick
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Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick

It comes after shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick visited the sale last month and posted a social media video highlighting concerns about the sale of suspected stolen goods.

The Met said its operation was in response to worries about tool theft and was working to identify the tools and trace their original owners.

Superintendent James Rawlinson, of Hounslow’s local neighbourhood policing team, said: “We are listening to Londoner’s concerns about tool theft because we understand the significant impact it has on tradespeople and their livelihoods.

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“We are targeting the prolific offenders and organised criminal groups that drive this trade in stolen tools through proactive, intelligence-led operations.”

Pic: Metropolitan Police
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Pic: Metropolitan Police

Pic: Metropolitan Police
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Pic: Metropolitan Police

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The force said tool theft between April and December was down 20.3%, compared with the same period last year as a result of Met operations targeting tool thieves.

Officers seized more than £500,000 worth of stolen tools during operations at two large-scale boot sales and associated premises in Romford and Rainham and made several arrests earlier this year.

Police have advised power tool owners to mark and take photographs of their property, and record the items’ serial numbers, to increase the chance of returning them if stolen.

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PM calls the doctor after disaster demise of the Prince of Darkness

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PM calls the doctor after disaster demise of the Prince of Darkness

Christian Turner is a mandarin’s mandarin. His appointment to the most glamorous posting in the UK diplomatic service is a victory for the Sir Humphreys over the politicians.

After the disaster and humiliation of Peter Mandelson‘s demise over his links to Jeffrey Epstein, it always made sense to appoint a scandal-free career diplomat as his successor.

Father-of-two Dr Turner is 53 but looks half his age. But his youthful appearance hides a long experience as a diplomat and civil servant serving prime ministers dating back to Tony Blair.

Christian Turner during a G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Italy in 2024. Pic: Reuters
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Christian Turner during a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Italy in 2024. Pic: Reuters

The Foreign Office announcement of his appointment describes him as “one of the UK’s most experienced diplomats”. And the top mandarins at the FCDO will be delighted they’ve got their man.

When Lord Mandelson was appointed last year, the senior cabinet minister Peter Kyle told Sky News the government had decided that he was “worth the risk”.

And what a risk it turned out to be. Will they never learn? “Mandy” – as he’s always been known in Westminster – had previously been forced to resign from the cabinet not once, but twice.

Lord Peter Mandelson and Sir Keir Starmer. File pic: PA
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Lord Peter Mandelson and Sir Keir Starmer. File pic: PA

He declared in an angry and defiant victory speech when he held his Commons seat in Hartlepool: “I’m a fighter, not a quitter.” But not long after that, he quit to become a Brussels commissioner.

Dr Turner, on the other hand, has enjoyed a stellar and unblemished career as a diplomat. His most high-profile international post so far was high commissioner to Pakistan, where he was said to be immensely popular.

One of his earlier diplomatic posts was high commissioner in Kenya, when he had to lead the UK’s response to the Westgate Mall terrorist attack, in which 71 people were killed.

UK high commissioner to Kenya Christian Turner, right, and US ambassador to Kenya Robert F. Godec, centre, in 2012. File pic: AP
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UK high commissioner to Kenya Christian Turner, right, and US ambassador to Kenya Robert F. Godec, centre, in 2012. File pic: AP

So he’s seen as a safe pair of hands and is unlikely to attract scandal and controversy in the way that his predecessor did, with his relationships with colourful tycoons and oligarchs as well as love of the high life.

Nevertheless, the Washington posting comes with some of the best perks in the diplomatic world, notably the luxurious Lutyens mansion that serves as the ambassador’s residence on Massachusetts Avenue.

Dr Turner saw off some distinguished rivals for the top job in the diplomatic service, including chief Varun Chandra, Sir Keir Starmer‘s business adviser, who is credited with being the architect of recent trade agreements with President Trump.

Varun Chandra. File pic: AP
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Varun Chandra. File pic: AP

Until this week, he was seen as the frontrunner for the job, and as a sop for not getting the Washington post, he will now have an expanded role, including taking a lead role in trade talks with the US.

A late entry in what became a three-horse race was Nigel Casey, Britain’s ambassador in Moscow.

But ultimately, he was seen as indispensable in his current role, given the volatile relations with Vladimir Putin and the continuing war in Ukraine.

British Ambassador to Russia Nigel Casey. File pic: Reuters
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British Ambassador to Russia Nigel Casey. File pic: Reuters

The PM interviewed all three candidates last week and his choice of Dr Turner is seen as a victory for Sir Olly Robbins, the Foreign Office’s top diplomat, whose career has prospered despite criticism of his role as the UK’s post-Brexit negotiator, over government ministers.

Read more from Sky News:
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Former footballer wins claim against top surgeon

Insiders claim there will be champagne corks popping in the Foreign Office’s King Charles Street HQ because Dr Turner is their man and will report back to the FCDO rather than No 10.

If Lord Mandelson – the “prince of darkness” in his days as a Labour spin doctor – was seen as Sir Keir’s “Trump whisperer”, Dr Turner will be the PM’s – and, more importantly, the Foreign Office’s – eyes and ears.

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