Prince Harry’s friend uses ’dysfunctional’ to describe royal family, but...

Prince Harry's old friend James Haskell has recently called the Royal family 'dysfunctional'. However, the 39-year-old retired professional rugby player said the British monarch and his family "serve an important role".

In an interview with the Times, Haskell shared his experience with the royal family from the point of view of an outsider.

His first observation of the royal family was that some members of the clan “aren’t as great as others.”

Praising the “amazing work” they do, Haskell highlighted that the royal family is also a modern one, “that’s very dysfunctional”.

The rugby player also highlighted that monarchy plays an important role in Britain and getting rid of it might not be right.

“To those who want to get rid of the monarchy — once they’re gone, they’re gone. There’s no way back from that, so remember that they serve an important role. I love what they do,” he said.

Royal marriages

Haskell first met Prince Harry at the wedding of the duke's cousin Zara Tindall and Mike Tindall in July 2011. He was also the part of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding which was in May 2018.

Haskell and Mike are good friends. They played together on the England rugby union team, and now are co-hosts of the podcast “The Good, The Bad & The Rugby”.

“Mike and Zara’s wedding was full of rugby players,” Haskell said, adding that the 2011 nuptials were a perfect combination of ceremony and romance, coupled with the fact that both of them like to enjoy themselves.

In the interview, Haskell recalled that he told an “inappropriate” joke about Harry’s uncle, Prince Andrew, at the Tindall wedding.

“Prince Andrew was sweating up a storm on the dancefloor, but then he realised that everyone was over 18 so he left. It was inappropriate, but it was funny,” he told the Times.

In addition to Harry, James Haskell shares a connection with Prince William and Kate Middleton. He and Mike Tindall hosted the Prince and Princess of Wales, along with William's aunt and Mike's mother-in-law, Princess Anne, on their podcast in September 2023.