Ed Sheeran issues brutal remark about Prince Harry

Rumours swirled that Ed could be performing at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding

Ed Sheeran offered a quick reply when asked about his friendship with Prince Harry.

While the I Don’t Care singer has frequently been compared to the royal in terms of appearance, the exact nature of their friendship remains unclear. Although they have attended several events together, Ed responded with a clever comment when asked about the depth of their relationship.

Back in 2021, Ed turned up at Harry’s door in London and joked: “It’s like looking in a mirror.” More than a decade ago in 2011, Ed and Harry first came face to face.

When Harry and Meghan Markle’s engagement was announced in 2017, rumours swirled that Ed could be performing at the wedding. Ed denied that he would be a celeb performer but didn’t turn the job down.

Speaking on Entertainment Tonight, he said: “I get asked this all the time like I know the Royal family. I’ve met Harry once. [And] that was in 2011 at his grans’ Jubilee, and it was like, ‘Hey. Hey… I barely know him!” This isn’t Ed’s only connection to the royal family, as in 2017, he received an MBE from Prince Charles on behalf of Queen Elizabeth. It was recently announced that Ed is taking a career break to launch a new scheme for young people.

The 33-year-old has a passion to improve funding for music lessons for kids and wants schools across the country to offer them more.

Speaking about the new scheme, he said: “I started doing that in the county I’m from, and we’ve just now changed to doing it nationwide. I’m now visiting more high schools that really need music funding and you can see what a difference it makes. I’m not an academic person – in the real world I would be viewed as stupid.

“But I excelled at music and therefore people think I’m good at something. I found it massively helpful to be at a state-funded school that really encouraged that. They’ve basically cut funding for that in England so I’m doing what I can to get funding for it.”

Ed donated a seven-figure sum to his old school, Thomas Mills High in Suffolk, after his teacher put out a plea after discovering there would be funding cuts six years ago. He gave over £1m to help children learn music, which was revealed back in 2022.

The latest report by his charity The Framlingham Foundation Trust revealed new grants were given to Thomas Mills High School. The grants were given to continue to provide students and teachers with top class learning resources and “a new Expressive Arts course in Year 8 introduced this year”.

The charity provides full bursaries to families who cannot afford fees. Its latest annual report shows it spent £91,000 on donations in 2022, and a further £338,000 since.