Will 2024 go down as Prince Harry’s annus horribilis?

The mental health startup where Prince Harry works as chief impact officer has been described by its staff as a ‘toxic trainwreck’ – but that’s only the latest setback the Duke of Sussex has faced this year, says Clair Woodward

The Sussexes’ Christmases in Montecito are described by the duchess, Meghan, as follows: “Like any other family, you spend time having a great meal, and then what do you do? Play games, all the same stuff, someone brings a guitar – fun.”

Oh, God, a Californian with a guitar, playing one of those slow, “sensitive” versions of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. As if this year couldn’t get any worse for Prince Harry.

Like his dear old Gan-Gan in 1992, Harry has had something of his own annus horribilis in 2024, which was packed with events that would have had even a top personal publicist banging their head against a wall in frustration.

Ever since his father, King Charles, was revealed in February to be undergoing treatment for cancer, the bad news for Harry has just kept on coming. The latest setback in a terrible 12 months for the Duke of Sussex – who turned 40 in September – came only this week, when the mental health startup he works for as chief impact officer was branded a “toxic trainwreck” by current and former employees.

So, where best to begin? You might think being given an award for creating the Invictus Games for wounded members of the armed services would be a jolly good thing and worthy of recognition. But when Harry was named the winner of the Pat Tillman Award by US sports TV network ESPN, awarded to those who have shown excellence in “service, leadership, and community involvement”, it went down very poorly indeed.

Tillman was an American football star who gave up a stellar career to join the US army and was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004, and his mother Mary was angry that Harry was receiving the award given in his name. “I am shocked as to why they would select such a controversial and divisive individual,” she said. “There are individuals working in the veteran community that are doing tremendous things to assist veterans, who do not have the money, resources, connections or privilege that Prince Harry has.”

Still, at least there was the duke’s five-part Netflix documentary on polo, called, er, Polo. Harry and Meghan have been paid $100m (£79m) by the streamer to provide “content that informs but also gives hope”. Maybe the series really did offer hope to rich, posh people who *Martin Luther King voice* had a dream of playing a chukka or two at Windsor; the rest of us, not so much.

It was described by critics as “tedious”, “unintentionally hilarious” and “a load of old tosh”, which must have hurt, especially after Harry and Meghan’s deal to make podcasts for Spotify came to an end in 2023 after they had only made 12 shows, each one earning the pair over a million and a half dollars.

Prince Harry’s judgement is now under fire after BetterUp, the mental health startup that pays him an estimated £800,000 a year, was lambasted by its employees. One Glassdoor reviewer described it as having a “cult-like facade” with “management out of touch. Toxicity. Everyone out for themselves. High burnout.”

Harry spoke at a BetterUp summit last April, where he described what gets him out of bed in the morning. “To be in the service of others is what drives me,” he explained. The whopping salary probably puts a bit of a spring in his step, too.

But at least there’s one thing the prince has in common with many people – he and his wife have both been personally attacked by Donald Trump because they expressed a dislike for him, and because Harry had previously admitted his own drug use, putting his US visa application in doubt.

In the aftermath of Trump’s election win, and with the promise of a “second term of vengeance”, rumours abounded that the Sussexes might seek sanctuary from presidential persecution, swapping California for Portugal. It seems too many bridges have been burnt for a return to the UK to be on the cards.

Harry’s estrangement from his family was his own doing. But the King’s Christmas speech was notable for the absence of any attempt at holding open a door for the prodigal son, with references made only to working members of the family. Unlike in previous years, there were no silver-framed family portraits of absent friends in the background.

But might there be a light at the end of the tunnel after all, at the end of a year that Harry will surely be glad to see the back of. He and Meghan sent out a corporate “Happy Holidays” card from their Archewell Foundation, which shows the backs of the heads of their children Archie and Lilibet (it is thought that close friends received one that showed their faces). Could this suggest a slight thaw in Harry’s frosty exterior?

A lot of us are hoping it does – and that 2024 offered him a few lessons in humility, as well as in business, too. A little more self-reflection might be just what he needs to bring him closer to the life of “service to others” – and perhaps to his family – that he clearly desires.