Global News Podcast - Prince Harry tells BBC he wants reconciliation with the Royal Family

Episode Date: May 3, 2025

In an interview, Prince Harry says he can't see a world where his family will visit the UK after he lost his security legal challenge. Also: a man's blood could unlock universal antivenom after being bitten many times.

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This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Janet Jaleel and in the early hours of Saturday, the 3rd of May, these are our main stories. Britain's Prince Harry has told the BBC that he wants to reconcile with the royal family and that he's devastated to have lost a legal challenge over his security in the UK. The Trump administration condemns the German authorities decision to classify the far-right AFD party as an extremist group. Israeli media says the Security Cabinet has approved the call up of tens of thousands of reservist troops to expand military operations in Gaza.

Also in this podcast. I picked the most dangerous ones in the world, black mambas, titans, cobras, crates, coral snakes, rattlesnakes. I couldn't get every single snake I wanted to have. How a man who has allowed snakes to bite him hundreds of times is helping scientists move towards their goal of producing a universal snake antiVenom. In an emotional interview, Prince Harry has told the BBC that he wants to reconcile with the royal family, in particular with King Charles, as he doesn't know how much longer his father has to live.

The Prince moved to the United States with his wife, Meghan, five years years ago after deciding to step back from royal duties. He spoke after losing the latest stage of his legal battle against the decision to significantly downgrade the security he's entitled to when visiting the UK. A court in London decided his sense of grievance didn't translate into a legal argument. In an exclusive interview with the BBC's Nedder Taufik in California, Prince Harry claimed his father isn't speaking to him because of the legal case and that losing his appeal had hit him hard. I'm devastated. Not so much as devastated with the loss that I am about the people behind the decision, feeling as though this is okay.

I can't see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the UK at this point. And the things that they're going to miss is, well, everything. You know, I love my country. I always have done. And I think that it's really quite sad that I won't be able to show, you know, my children my homeland. Do you wish your father had intervened, despite how that may have looked? I've never asked him to intervene. I've asked him to step out of the way and let the experts do their job. What the court decided today was that they were justified for four reasons to not have that review. And a major part of that is because you're no longer a working royal, a change in your status.

Do you not accept that from the court? Well, my status hasn't changed. It can't change. I am who I am. I am part of what I'm part of and I can never escape that. But with a specific answer to the question, there are comparisons that exist. I think it would be quite shocking for the British public and the public at large to understand or know that, in fact many people do know this, that people who leave public office receive lifetime protection, regardless of whether there are threats or risks to them. If you know that other people are being protected,

people that have made a choice for public office, then why wouldn't you be comfortable, happy with someone in my position who's given 35 years service to his country, two tours of Afghanistan, and the threats and risks to my life. I was born into this position. I was born into those risks, and they've only increased over time. No matter how much private security I have around me, there's only so much that I can do and operate and function within the UK when it comes to supporting my charities, visiting my friends, all of these things. So, you know, it is, I've been treated very, very, very differently to everybody else that exists, all examples that exist. And I think what really worries me more than anything else about today's decision,

depending on, you know, what happens next, is that it's set a new precedent that security can be used to control members of the family. And effectively what it does is imprison other members of the family from being able to choose a different life. Do you want the court battle to continue? Do you want to try to see this get to the Supreme Court? Or have you abandoned it? I don't want any battles to continue. At the heart of it is a family dispute.

And it makes me really, really sad that we're sitting here today. There have been so many disagreements, differences between me and some of my family. This current situation that has been on now, ongoing for five years with regard to Human life and safety is the sticking point it is the only thing that's left Of course some members my family will never forgive me for writing a book

of course, they will never forgive me for lots of things but I would I would love 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. So it would be nice to have that reconciliation part now. If they don't want that, that's entirely up to them. Prince Harry speaking to our correspondent,

Neda Taufik, I put it to her that the prince was clearly deeply upset, not just over his court case, but over the rift within his family. Absolutely. And you really got a sense from him opening up in this way that he really wanted to find a way to move on, a way to move forward. You heard him very just openly discussing the family dynamics that we don't normally hear him speak about and here he was saying you know on the one

hand this is a court issue but at the heart of it is a family. And I want the security to have that connection to my home country, to share that connection with my children, but also so that I can repair the rifts with the family. And it was quite something to hear him openly state how he doesn't speak to his father at the moment because of this. And it will be certainly very interesting to see what follows from this. We heard Prince Harry saying he wants the Prime Minister to step in, the Home Secretary of that Cooper, but that also this could be easily resolved through his father.

And he clearly is also worried about his family's links with Britain because he talked about how he feels he can't bring his wife and children back to the UK because of their security concerns, which must weigh so heavily on him, given the tragic death of his mother, Princess Diana. Yeah, that's absolutely right. And I spoke to him about the fact that he says often that he doesn't want history repeating himself.

He doesn't want what happened to his mother, Princess Diana, to happen to him and his family. You know, he says he only gets the security that from police protection when he is invited by the royal family to the UK. He says if he's there on private business or work with charities essentially that it is someone on the other end of a phone, that's the extent of the security he is offered. So you can just see how he feels it's unfair treatment is the way he put it, him being singled out, because he goes to other countries, he gets that police protection, and then in the UK he says he doesn't get it, and he says there's a duty of care that's missing there. Neda Taufik, well after Prince Harry's interview with the BBC,

Birkingham Palace issued a brief statement. It said all the issues had been examined repeatedly and meticulously by the courts with the same conclusion being reached on each occasion. I asked our royal correspondent, Sean Coughlin, what we should make of this response. Sean Coughlin, U.S. Attorney General, The New York Times, Well, it's very interesting, isn't it? And it is saying more or less, we've been here before, it's a rather calm, rather measured statement and it's in sharp contrast to the emotional language of Prince Harry's statement. And I think almost you see the

two sides of this extraordinary story really. This began with a court case and it was a court case that Prince Harry lost and in rather plain terms, the judge said that even though Prince Harry had a deep sense of grievance, that didn't translate into an effective legal challenge. And again, Buckingham Palace is almost saying the same thing that these things have been looked at. But what we perhaps weren't ready for was this extraordinary sort of avalanche of emotions that came out of Prince Harry's comments. He was clearly wanting to unburden himself and the discussion about the court case and about security almost became emblematic of something much bigger. And he took it into a conversation about his relationship with his father and with the rest of the royal family in a way that is

really very unusual to hear someone, him talking so directly and so candidly about rifts within the royal family and the kind of family dynamics that are going on this. It's very unusual. So it's a very interesting contrast now between the plain and rather calm tones of Buckingham Palace and Prince Harry saying, you know, let's reconcile, let's get back together, life's short, let's get over this. And whether those two points will ever come together is a good talking point. Our royal correspondent Sean Cocklin. The German government has defended a decision by its domestic intelligence agency to classify the far-right AFD party as an extremist group. After the US Secretary

of State Marco Rubio posted on social media that the move was not democracy but tyranny in disguise, the German Foreign Ministry took the unusual step of replying directly to Mr. Rubio saying, this is democracy, adding that we have learnt from our history that right-wing extremism needs to be stopped. And the US Vice President J.D. Vance has also weighed in, accusing Germany of rebuilding a Berlin Wall. To explain why the AfD has been labeled an extremist organization, here's our Europe regional editor, Paul Moss. The Alternative for Germany Party, or AfD, has never made any bones about its view of immigrants. It thinks the country has too many of them and that the presence of so many people of foreign origin, particularly Muslims, represents a

threat to German society. But now it's the AfD itself which has been designated as an extremist threat. The country's domestic intelligence agency says the AfD wants to exclude people from the democratic process based on their ethnicity. This, it said, is against the German constitution. wants to exclude people from the democratic process based on their ethnicity. This, it said, is against the German constitution. The AfD, however, insists this decision is all about politics. Its deputy parliamentary leader, Beatrice von Storch, issued a stark warning.

The decision taken today is anti-democratic. Why do they blame us for this? Come up with some severe proof. And they say, oh, we have got proof, but the proof is secret. We won't tell you. This is not a debate which should be possible in a Western democracy, a state of law. I would say this is the way an authoritarian state, a dictatorship would treat their party. See, we have got something in secret and on behalf of this we will blame you for whatsoever. This is a step towards banning AFD. In fact there's been no decision to ban the AFD but there are politicians pushing for

that to happen and they can only be emboldened by its extremist designation. Meanwhile the new German parliament begins sitting next week, still with no consensus on how to handle a party that may be considered extremist but which has been duly elected as the official opposition. Paul Moss, the Israeli media says that the country's security cabinet has approved the call up of tens of thousands of reservist troops to expand military operations in Gaza. The full Israeli cabinet is expected to meet on Sunday to discuss approving the

plan. Here's our Middle East regional editor, Mike Thompson. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had warned that the military's operations in Gaza would be stepped up if hostages weren't released soon. These reports suggest that could happen soon. Under the reported plan, several reserve brigades would be mobilised and an infantry division deployed, though it's said to stop short of a full-scale manoeuvre. The development is likely to further heighten concern for civilians in Gaza, following Israel's two-month-long aid blockade, which the UN says has left the Strip

on the verge of collapse. Mike Thompson, while staying with Gaza, activists on a ship bringing aid to the territory have accused Israel of attacking it with drones. Crew on board the Conscience say it was fired on in the early hours of Friday, as it sailed in international waters off Malta. So far there's been no comment from Israel but this all comes as aid agencies are warning

that mass starvation is imminent in Gaza two months after Israel began blocking all supplies from entering the territory. Sebastian Usher sent this report from Jerusalem. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition says that armed drones hit the front of a ship twice, causing a fire and a breach in the hull. We got bombed. Choking from a smoke, activists on board videoed the aftermath of the attack. The Maltese authorities sent a tugboat to the scene, which managed to bring the fire under control.

A spokesperson for the group said they suspected Israel of carrying out the attack, but couldn't be 100 percent sure. The activist Greta Thunberg was among around 40 people in Malta waiting to join the boat. I was part of the group who was supposed to board that boat to continue the voyage towards Gaza to do our part to keep trying to break Israel's illegal siege on Gaza. There's been no official response from Israel to the incident so far. For the last two months Israel has imposed a total blockade on aid supplies going into Gaza saying the aim is to put extra pressure on Hamas. But aid agencies

have warned that the humanitarian response in Gaza is now on the verge of total collapse. Sebastian Nasher. Syrian state media say the Israeli military has launched a wave of fresh attacks north of the capital Damascus and close to the northern city of Hamar. These are the latest in a series of Israeli raids reportedly aimed at weakening the northern city of Hama. These are the latest in a series of Israeli raids reportedly aimed at weakening the military capabilities of Syria's Islamist government that seized power in December. The UN Secretary General earlier condemned an Israeli airstrike close to the presidential palace in Damascus.

Israel says it was protecting the Druze minority. The Druze, who straddle Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel play a significant role in Israel's military. Sheikh Hamoud al-Hinawi is one of three Druze leaders in Syria. Paul Henley asked him via a translator about the recent violence and whether the Druze people had received any support from the Islamist-led government. We met with officials in Dariya near Sahnaia and we were a delegation made of the three

Druze Sheikhs and we met three local mayors who are in charge of different areas. We agreed with these officials that we will stop the fighting and try and contain the unrest. But unfortunately the conditions got worse and fighting resumed. Things did not settle. There were some violations by the security forces. We tried to reach out to them again to contain these events and at the moment things are still tense. You've previously backed the new Syrian government. Has that changed now? The matter is not about whether we support or oppose the current government in Syria. We support the rule of law and the national sovereignty of Syria as long as the government is protecting

Its citizens and is adhering to its commitment to rebuild a modern Syria. We are for a modern united Syria But you're not being protected by the government not practically at the moment. Are you? In practical terms In practical terms, what is happening right now is sectarian targeting. These are some extremist elements who are targeting us on a sectarian basis. The type of transgressions and violations that happened in Ashrafiyah include the killing of people, the ransacking of their houses, burning them, and it is the duty of the state to protect and safeguard the civilians. Drew's leader Sheikh Hamoud al-Hinawi.

Still to come… What we're looking for is a storytelling voice that is completely original and authentic. Our writing just three pages could win you a literary price of $100,000. Good Bad Billionaire is the podcast that maps out how the world's billionaires made all their money. One of our newest billionaires made all their money. told you. Hear the incredible story of Selena Gomez on Good, Bad, Billionaire. Listen on the BBC app or wherever you get your podcasts. You're listening to the Global News Podcast. President Trump's ongoing feud with Harvard University continues. On Friday, he said he planned to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt

status, describing the move as what the institution deserved. Mr. Trump didn't say when he would take this action. The US president has previously targeted elite universities over diversity policies and student admissions by threatening to withhold research grants. Harvard says removing its tax-exempt status would be unlawful and unprecedented. Nourmia Iqbal reports. Donald Trump says he's going to remove it, basically. And it's a status that's for the vast majority of US colleges

and universities. He's gone after Harvard already, accusing them of being anti-Semitic, a far-left institution. So he said last month that he's freezing more than $2 billion in federal funding. A lot of that funding goes towards medical schools, medical research, that kind of thing. And Harvard has taken on Donald Trump and accusing Mr. Trump of unlawfully threatening the school's academic independence. I mean, it's worth mentioning that the president of Harvard did recently react to a report that it was

looking into accusations of anti-Semitism as well as Islamophobia on campus. And he said that Alan Garbo, the president, that they hadn't done enough. I'm not quite sure how far they'll get with this because Harvard is exempt from federal and state income taxes and he doesn't necessarily have the unilateral authority to revoke an organization's tax exempt status. Nomi Ekber, a Peruvian Navy vessel has collided with an oil platform operated by the Anglo-French company Perenco in the country's Amazon region, killing at least two people. A third person is missing. Our Americas regional editor Leonardo Roscia reports. The Rural Defence Ministry said the collision had happened in the early hours of Friday where the Napalm River flows into the Amazon River. In a

statement it said the Navy vessel Uka Yali was badly damaged which prompted the evacuation of its 30 crew members. It's not clear if the platform was damaged or whether oil had leaked into the Amazon River. There are hundreds of gas and oil blocks in areas of Peru, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador covered by the Amazon rainforest. They pose a permanent threat to the environment and indigenous communities. Leonardo Russia, the Peruvian Navy says it's investigating the cause of the accident. The social media platform TikTok has been fined more than half a billion dollars for

transferring European users' data to China in breach of EU legislation. Joe Inwood has more details. TikTok always denied sending user data to China. The court in Ireland ruled that was not true. The Irish government, who had been handling the case on behalf of the EU, was investigating whether the Chinese owned firm had breached general data protection regulations, GDPR. The court found that transfer data had not been given sufficient protection. TikTok, which has been under increasing scrutiny in a number of countries

for its handling of user data and its potential links to the Chinese government, has said it will appeal the ruling. Jo Inwood. Scientists have taken a step towards creating a universal anti-venom for snakebite with help from a man who has allowed himself to be bitten hundreds of times. Tim Frieda said he was proud he could do something in his life for humanity. Stephanie Zachrisson takes up the story.

Very nasty snake. Some might think him crazy, others a genius. American truck mechanic Tim Friede has long had a fascination with reptiles and other venomous creatures. He kept dozens at his home in Wisconsin. But around two decades ago, out of what he calls simple curiosity, he wondered whether he could build up a natural tolerance to the deadliest snake venom. So he took the reptiles out of their terrarium and allowed them to bite him in the arm. I picked the most dangerous ones in the world black mambas, tight pans, cobras, crepes, coral snakes, rattlesnakes. I couldn't get every single snake I wanted to have. Some you just can't get and I don't like taking stuff out of the wild so you know I had to pick them shoes. And while most

scientists would have advised him against doing any of this, his unorthodox method did mimic how the body builds immunity by exposing it to tiny amounts of toxins, allowing it to develop antibodies. As Tim kept subjecting his arms to the sharp bangs of the snakes without dying, but with several visits to the hospital and dropping into a coma for four days, he became even more convinced that his body could serve a purpose for scientists looking to create an antivenom. And there is a need. More than 80,000 people die from venomous snake bites every year, according to the World Health Organisation,

and thousands more are left permanently disabled. Plus, making an antivenom is expensive and difficult. So Tim began emailing every scientist he could think of. I reached out to a lot of them, can you study me, what can we do to save people from snakebite? The biotech fan Centiwax picked him up on his offer and has now conducted a study using Tim's blood and antibodies. Peter Kwong from Columbia University led the research. We might have a working cocktail that could be developed in a few years, but also it shows what the human immune system can do. We have antibodies produced in humans

that might save other humans moving forwards in terms of a universal antivenom. Peter Kwong and his team have created an experimental antivenom that they hope could one day treat bites from many different snake species. It's only been tested in mice so far, and human trials could be years away. But it's showing promise against a group of snakes that include mambas and cobras.

And while Tim Friede is excited that his 18-year journey of subjecting himself to regular snake bites could lead to a breakthrough in protecting other people from severe reactions, the researcher's advice is very clear. Please do not try this at home. And that's very good advice indeed. That was Stephanie Zakrisson reporting. Now, have you ever dreamt of becoming an author but felt that it's too overwhelming and time-consuming that you'd have to produce hundreds of pages before even showing anyone what you got. Well, a new literary competition is asking would-be novelists to simply produce three pages to win a prize of a hundred thousand dollars and help to develop their book. The

competition called The Next Big Story is open to citizens from Britain, the US, Australia and Canada who can make as many entries as they like so long as they're prepared to pay about $20 for each one. The scheme was devised by the novelist Louise Dean. We really want to create real change and throw the doors open to people who would self exclude from publishing. We know that the risk reward of writing is typically very high risk, very low reward, and the idea is no let's do something really big that has a massive prize amount that can change lives and give people the time to write. We're looking for fresh new voices in fiction. It's

about time. The industry has been sort of paralysed around older voices and older forms but what we're looking for is a storytelling voice that is completely original and authentic. We think you know it's three pages, go for it. It's a hundred thousand dollars seventy five thousand pounds, you's three pages, go for it. It's a hundred thousand dollars, seventy five thousand pounds. You can do this, go for it. Can you successfully judge potential on just three pages? Absolutely. It's actually how the business works. In fact, literary agents and publishers all the way through to readers

judge books on three pages. They set them aside. It's got to grip readers from the get-go. There are bound to be people who think, well, it's worth a punt. I'll get ChatGP to run me up three pages. How are you going to get, sort that out? Look, we're asking people not to use AI to generate their entry

because works that are generated by AI can't be copyrighted. We're very good at detecting it, and we want to hear your original voice. Humans are full of mischief. They are utterly wicked. And that's what you bring to the page. And the lovely thing, AI has many great functions, but it cannot reproduce the essential wickedness of humanity.

That was novelist Louise Deane speaking to Tom Sutcliffe. And that's all from us for now but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast later. Now a quick request from us before we go, we want to hear where you're listening from so we can update our shiny new map in the office. You can email globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk with your town or city and while you're there feel free to leave us a voice note. We'd love to hear from you. The address again is globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk. This edition was mixed by Nick Randall, the producer was Liam McSheffrey, the editor is Karen Martin. I'm Jonathan Jaleel. Until next time. Goodbye. I'm Krassi Ivanova-Tweek from the Global Jigsaw Podcast from the BBC World Service, where

we are asking what does the future hold for Kurds living in four countries? The Turkish government and the leader of the biggest militant Kurdish group, the PKK, might have struck a deal that's hoped to put an end to decades of bloody conflicts. But will it? The Global Jigsaw looks at the world through the lens of its media. Find us wherever you get your BBC podcasts.