Harry's surprise Strictly appearance 'raised eyebrows' at palace amid BBC drama
Strictly Come Dancing has millions of fans up and down the country - and it seems the royals are among them.
In the past, both Queen Camilla and the Princess of Wales have let it be known they love to tune into the ballroom competition, while the Duchess of Edinburgh and daughter Lady Louise Windsor have even been spotted in the audience. But one royal who made a shock appearance on the hit BBC Saturday night show was Prince Harry - and it seems his surprise cameo 'raised eyebrows' among royal aides. Harry's appearance on Strictly came when his friend JJ Chalmers was a contestant on the show in 2020.
Harry during his fleeting appearance on Strictly Come Dancing (BBC)As JJ and pro partner Amy Dowden trained to perform a jive several weeks into the competition, the Duke of Sussex sent his pal a video message of support that was played to the couple in the training room.
Harry and JJ first struck up a friendship when JJ, a former royal marine who was injured in a bomb blast in Afghanistan, competed in the inaugural Invictus Games in London in 2014. The two men have seemingly remained close with JJ appearing in Harry's Netflix show Heart of Invictus and also attending the latest Invictus Games in Dusseldorf earlier this month.
In his video message for the the now TV presenter, Harry mocked JJ's dress sense and sent a few good-natured jokes his way, but wished him all the best for his future in the dance contest. He told his pal: "You are definitely having an impact on society now. It doesn’t get better than that."
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Harry with JJ Chalmers, who appeared was a Strictly contestant in 2020 (Chris Jackson Collection)However, Harry's appearance on the BBC flagship show came at the time of an investigation by the corporation into the circumstances surrounding his mother Princess Diana's controversial Panorama interview in 1995. Diana agreed to speak with Panorama journalist Martin Bashir after he allegedly showed her false bank statements which led her to believe royal staff were spying on her.
A report later found the BBC had covered up Bashir’s "deceitful behaviour" and "fell short of high standards of integrity and transparency." The BBC said that it would never license the 1995 interview "in whole or part" to other broadcasters following revelations about how Bashir secured it.
Speaking at the time of Harry's appearance on Strictly, when the Panorama revelations were first coming to light, a royal source told The Times: " Strictly Come Dancing is one of the BBC's flagship shows. Given what has been going on around the BBC Diana saga and everything that has come out of the other documentaries, Harry's timing is a little surprising. Of all the weeks for Harry to record something on the BBC, this wasn't it."
However, a spokesman for Harry hit back and explained: "The Duke has known JJ for a long time. They've been in good touch since Strictly started and he was keen to show his support for a friend so they recorded something together earlier this week." Unfortunately, Harry's message wasn't enough for JJ as he was booted off the show the next week in the quarter final after losing in the dance-off to Made in Chelsea's Jamie Laing.
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