Meghan Markle might not have been impressed by teenage Prince Harry, as claimed by the Duke of Beaufort. The family butler, serving Henry Somerset, reportedly reprimanded the then-16-year-old Harry for throwing fully clothed girls into a pool at a party.
The incident occurred at Badminton House, the Duke of Beaufort’s ancestral home in Gloucestershire.
Somerset shared this at the Oldie Literary Lunch at the National Liberal Club, stating, “I don’t think Meghan would have got the joke.”
The duke, nicknamed “Bunter,” was promoting his new book, The Unlikely Duke. Somerset further explained, “He came to Badminton about 20 years ago for the 18th birthday of my niece, and this was held around a large circular swimming pool which my father had just built.”
“It was a gathering of rather awkward teenagers… and they were not really comfortable talking to each other.”
The English peer referred to the Duke of Sussex as being a normal teenager at the party.
He commented: “But then suddenly Harry picked up one of the girls without any explanation and hurled her into the pool.
“Initially everyone was a bit shocked, but then there were roars of laughter.
“Perhaps he wasn’t particularly accustomed with such success from his jokes.”
The duke also told The Mail that Harry was “like a truck driver”.
Somerset explained: “He then proceeded to pick up another one, and then another girl, and then another girl, and he was rather like a truck driver heaving bags of coal onto the back of a lorry before solemnly going back to pick up another one.
“Luckily my father’s butler was there and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and took him away.”
Harry and Meghan tied the knot in 2018 and have two children together, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
The family of four live in Montecito, Santa Barbara in California.
