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The cruel reality behind Prince Harry's wildlife photography

Holly Hales
·Lifestyle & Entertainment Producer
Prince Harry stunned the world last week following the release of his wildlife snaps – but now their reality has been revealed. Photo: Getty Images/instagram
Prince Harry stunned the world last week following the release of his wildlife snaps – but now their reality has been revealed. Photo: Getty Images/instagram

Prince Harry stunned the world last week with the release of his never-before-seen wildlife snaps taken during far-flung travels around the globe.

But now the reality behind the duke’s photography has been revealed, with a simple crop masking what led up to Harry snapping the now-famous images, shot in the African bush.

One picture, taken just metres from a wild elephant’s trunk, left many royal watchers enthralled at the prince’s brave proximity to the imposing animal.

But The Mail on Sunday reported the creature had actually been stunned by a tranquilliser for the duration Harry was in its presence.

In fact, the publication claims each of the animals – a rhino, elephant and lion – which were posted on the Sussex’s Instagram had been transquilised and restrained before he even came close.

The majestic African elephant’s hind legs had been restrained by a rope – a reality which was hidden from followers due to the way the picture was cropped before being uploaded as part of an Earth Day tribute. Photo: Duke of Sussex
The majestic African elephant’s hind legs had been restrained by a rope – a reality which was hidden from followers due to the way the picture was cropped before being uploaded as part of an Earth Day tribute. Photo: Duke of Sussex

The majestic African elephant’s hind legs had also been restrained by a rope – a reality which was hidden from followers due to the way the picture was cropped before being uploaded as part of an Earth Day tribute.

Each of the snaps were taken in Malawi in mid-2016, just weeks after Harry and Meghan’s romantic trip to neighbouring Botswana where they say they first fell in love.

“We were in a floodplain… I have a series of images – from a different perspective – depicting the elephant falling to the ground later on,” field guide Frank Weitzer, who was present when the pictures were taken, told the Mail.

A spokesman for the duke refused to discuss the allegations with the publication but instead claimed the choice of cropping was ‘due to Instagram’s format’.

View this post on Instagram

Today is #earthday – an opportunity to learn about, celebrate and continue to safeguard our planet, our home. The above, Their Royal Highnesses in Rotorua, New Zealand. Of the 170 different species originally planted in the early 1900’s, only a handful of species, including these majestic Redwoods, remain today. Next, we invite you to scroll through a series of 8 photos taken by The Duke of Sussex©️DOS sharing his environmental POV including: Africa’s Unicorn, the rhino. These magnificent animals have survived ice ages and giant crocodiles, amongst other things! They have adapted to earth’s changing climate continually for over 30 million years. Yet here we are in 2019 where their biggest threat is us. A critical ecosystem, Botswana’s Okavango Delta sustains millions of people and an abundance of wildlife. Huge bush fires, predominantly started by humans, are altering the entire river system; the ash kills the fish as the flood comes in and the trees that don’t burn become next year’s kindling. Desert lions are critically endangered due partly to human wildlife conflict, habitat encroachment and climate change. 96% of mammals on our 🌍 are either livestock or humans, meaning only 4% remaining are wild animals. Orca and Humpback whale populations are recovering in Norway thanks to the protection of their fisheries. Proof that fishing sustainably can benefit us all. Roughly 3/4 of Guyana is forested, its forests are highly diverse with 1,263 known species of wildlife and 6,409 species of plants. Many countries continue to try and deforest there for the global demand for timber. We all now know the damage plastics are causing to our oceans. Micro plastics are also ending up in our food source, creating not just environmental problems for our planet but medical problems for ourselves too. When a fenced area passes its carrying capacity for elephants, they start to encroach into farmland causing havoc for communities. Here @AfricanParksNetwork relocated 500 Elephants to another park within Malawi to reduce the pressure on human wildlife conflict and create more dispersed tourism. Every one of us can make a difference, not just today but every day. #earthday

A post shared by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex (@sussexroyal) on Apr 22, 2019 at 6:54am PDT

The shock revelation follows reports last week that Harry and Meghan’s apparent close ties to the African continent could see them posted there on a multi-year royal assignment in the region.

Among these ties are the gap year Harry spent in Lesotho in 2004, a World Vision trip Meghan took to Rwanda in 2016 and their now-famous trip to Botswana love was first sparked.

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