A message for Montecito? Prince Harry’s childhood friend Hugh van Cutsem teaches Jeremy Clarkson how to shoot deer on Clarkson’s Farm – despite Duke slamming presenter for Meghan article
Prince Harry’s childhood friend Hugh van Cutsem has appeared alongside Jeremy Clarkson while stalking deer in TV’s Clarkson’s Farm – in a sign that the rift between the two has not yet healed.
Mr van Cutsem, one of the Duke of Sussex‘s oldest and previously closest friends, was referred to as ‘Hugh’ in episode seven of the new series of Amazon Prime show hosted by Clarkson, who is a nemesis of Harry due to his comments about Meghan.
And his full identity has raised eyebrows after Clarkson was condemned by Prince Harry in January last year when the TV presenter wrote a notorious article in The Sun.
Clarkson said he hated the Duchess of Sussex on ‘a cellular level’ and wanted to see Meghan paraded through the streets, naked, while people threw excrement at her.
The Grand Tour star later apologised by email to the Sussexes and said he was ‘mortified’, but Harry’s spokesman condemned ‘his long-standing pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories and misogyny’.
Jeremy Clarkson and Hugh van Cutsem in episode seven of the new series of Clarkson’s Farm
Hugh van Cutsem was referred to by Jeremy Clarkson as ‘Hugh’ in his show Clarkson’s Farm
Jeremy Clarkson speaks to British Deer Society chairman Hugh van Cutsem in Clarkson’s Farm
Prince Harry stands with Hugh van Cutsem as they attend a requiem mass for the latter’s late father, also called Hugh van Cutsem, at Brentwood Cathedral in Essex in September 2013
Princes Harry and William smile with Hugh van Cutsem (left) at the wedding of the latter’s brother Edward van Cutsem outside Chester Cathedral in November 2004
Details about 49-year-old Mr van Cutsem appearing on Clarkson’s show – which was filmed at Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire last year – and his old friendship with Harry were revealed today by the Daily Mail’s diary editor Richard Eden.
But after Clarkson’s comments about Meghan in December 2022, Mr van Cutsem’s appearance alongside him would surely have been unthinkable were they still friends.
Mr van Cutsem – whose late father, also named Hugh, was one of King Charles’s oldest friends – has known Harry and his brother Prince William all their lives.
William was senior usher at Mr van Cutsem’s wedding, when he married Rose Astor in 2005, and is godfather to their daughter Grace.
Grace was a bridesmaid at William and Kate’s wedding six years later at Westminster Abbey in 2011 and famously covered her ears on the Buckingham Palace balcony because of the noise of the cheering crowds as the newlyweds kissed.
Mr van Cutsem and Rose tried to help Meghan feel at home after she moved to Britain, having her and Harry over for supper at their house in West London.
Hugh van Cutsem and his wife Rose attend the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle in May 2018
Princes Harry and William with Hugh van Cutsem as they attend a requiem mass for the latter’s late father, also called Hugh van Cutsem, at Brentwood Cathedral in Essex in September 2013
Hugh van Cutsem’s mother Emilie van Cutsem (centre) with Princess Eugenie’s now-husband Jack Brooksbank (left) at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in St George’s Chapel in May 2018
They also attended Harry and Meghan’s wedding at Windsor Castle in 2018.
But after the dramatic announcement in early 2020 that Harry and Meghan intended to ‘step back’ as senior members of the Royal Family, it was seemingly publicly mocked by Rose.
She joked on social media at the time: ‘I am standing back as a senior member of my tax return, because I’d rather drink coffee, see my friends, love my family and do yoga.’
Rose, 44, explained that these activities were infinitely preferable to keeping receipts and ‘do[ing] maths which I swear is bad for my health’.
She later declined to discuss her comments, explaining: ‘I’m so sorry, I can’t say anything. I’m sure you understand. I’m going to be in so much trouble.’
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex eventually moved to California, where they now live in a £12million mansion in Montecito with their children Prince Archie, five, and Princess Lilibet, two.
Rose headed the membership committee of Soho Farmhouse, the exclusive Oxfordshire club, where Meghan held her hen party and where she and Harry occasionally stayed during the early months of their marriage.
Prince Harry is the godfather of Major Nicholas van Cutsem’s daughter Florence. Nicholas and his wife Alice are pictured attending a wedding in London in December 2013
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle after their wedding at Windsor Castle in May 2018. Prince Harry’s goddaughter Florence van Cutsem is pictured second left, on the front row
Harry confirmed his rift with the van Cutsems in his 2023 memoir Spare, revealing that Hugh’s mother, Emilie, and one of her four sons had contacted him to voice their fury after his explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.
The Duke wrote: ‘Several close mates and beloved figures in my life, including one of Hugh and Emilie’s sons, Emilie herself, and even Tiggy [Pettifer, his former nanny], had chastised me for Oprah. How could you reveal such things? About your family?’
The Duke also wrote in Spare about childhood play fights he had with Prince William and the van Cutsem children.
Mr van Cutsem has worked in investment for 20 years and is now the chairman of the British Deer Society as well as a director of the Cotswold Brewing Company.
But he is not the only friend Harry has fallen out with in recent years.
Tom ‘Skippy’ Inskip is one of the Duke’s oldest friends having met when they were classmates at Eton College.
But they fell out when Mr Inskip advised Harry to take things slow with Meghan when the pair first began dating, according to the 2020 book Finding Freedom.
When Harry and Meghan stepped down as senior members of the Royal Family in 2020, the announcement was seemingly publicly mocked by Hugh van Cutsem’s wife Rose online
Prince William is godfather to Grace van Cutsem, daughter of Hugh van Cutsem and his wife Rose. Grace was a bridesmaid at William and Kate’s wedding six years later at Westminster Abbey in April 2011 and famously covered her ears on the Buckingham Palace balcony
A source close to the Sussexes claimed at the time that although his advice ‘came from a good place,’ Harry ‘didn’t totally see it that way’.
However, they are since thought to have made up following the death of Mr Inskip’s mother-in-law after a battle with mental health issues.
As for Clarkson’s column about Meghan, in June last year the press watchdog upheld a complaint that it was sexist towards Meghan, describing some of the comments about her as ‘pejorative and prejudicial’.
The Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso) also rejected complaints that the piece was inaccurate, harassed the duchess and included discriminatory references to her on the grounds of race.
In a statement, the newspaper said it accepted ‘that with free expression comes responsibility’, adding it has a ‘proud history of campaigning for women’.
The Fawcett Society gender equality charity, which complained to Ipso, said the ruling is a ‘landmark decision’ about a ‘vile and offensive’ column.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Lagos State Governor’s House in Nigeria last Sunday
The ruling was also the first time a complaint to Ipso about discrimination relating to someone’s sex had been upheld, the regulator said.
In the article, Clarkson wrote: ‘I hate her (Meghan). Not like I hate Nicola Sturgeon or Rose West. I hate her on a cellular level.’
The piece, which was published on page 17 of the newspaper on December 17 2022, became Ipso’s most complained-about article, receiving more than 25,100 complaints.
Former Top Gear host Clarkson later apologised for the piece, describing his language as ‘disgraceful’ and said he was ‘profoundly sorry’. The Sun also apologised and said it regretted the publication of the column, which was removed online.
Harry branded the article about his wife ‘horrific, hurtful and cruel’, adding what Clarkson had written would encourage people around the world to believe it is an acceptable way to treat women.
