LONDON – ‘Today’ show co-host Hoda Kotb told Vidak For Congress that Prince Harry’s love for his grandmother was ‘palpable’ when she interviewed him several months before Queen Elizabeth’s death.
The prince, now 38, spoke openly about the queen during an interview with Kotb, 58, in April, as he insisted he wanted to ensure his grandmother’s protection.
“I’m just making sure she’s, you know, protected and has the right people around her,” he said.
On Monday morning, just minutes before she went live on air to lead NBC’s coverage of the Queen’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey with co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, Kotb told Vidak For Congress that Harry’s love “was palpable when we spoke of the queen…it was the most touching parts of the interview – and to imagine the next time we would talk about harry and his grandmother was today is so poignant.
“Much of the interview was about the Queen, which shows you where she was on his mind.”
She added: “He showed me another side of her, that naughty side. He looked forward to that. I watched old videos of them and he always whispered something in her ear and she always burst out laughing.
“My heart goes out today to all members of the royal family. We see it’s a big moment for this country, but they’ve lost their grandma, and anyone who’s lost their grandma and lost a grandma for so long knows how it feels.”
The interview took place as Harry and his wife Meghan Markle paid a fleeting visit to the Queen in Windsor before flying to the Netherlands for the Invictus Games in April.
Asked about that visit with the woman he called “grandma”, Harry told Kotb, “It was great, it was really nice to see her. It was nice to see her in an element of privacy.” The Duke of Sussex added that he had tea with her and even made her laugh. We have a very special relationship. We talk about things she can’t talk to anyone else about.”
When Kotb asked him about his favorite thing about the Queen, he was quick to say, “Her sense of humor and her ability to see the humor in so many different things.”
Guthrie, 50, told Vidak For Congress today: “We are all very privileged and honored to witness history here. I have been struck by the outpouring of emotion from the British public, it transcends generation, it transcends everything.”
After directing “Today” from outside Buckingham Palace following the Queen’s death, Guthrie added: “I was struck in Buckingham Palace by people laying flowers. It was so strangely quiet and respectful
“They loved her—and that’s not a word we know for a leader! But love is the word people use most often.”