Members of the British Royal family usually do their best to stay out of politics but when Prince Harry took the reins at BBC Radio 4, he came close to getting political several times.
The Prince joined the presenters of the current affairs programme in the studio and said the issues he had chosen, which included mental health, the charitable sector and the Armed Forces, were “incredibly important topics we all need to think about and need to be discussed.”
He also interviewed his own father, the Prince of Wales, and former US president Barack Obama.
He added: “Part of my job, part of my role is to shine a spotlight on these issues whatever it is.
“So I will continue to play my part in society and do my job to the best of my abilities so I can wake up in the morning feeling energised and go to bed hopefully knowing that I’ve done the best that I can.”
But here are five moments Harry very-nearly-almost became political with his guest editorship…
1. On Inviting Obama And Not Trump To His Wedding
Harry carefully sidestepped a question about the guest list for his wedding – a potential diplomatic nightmare reported to be sending the UK Government into a spin – which will take place in May next year.
He said: “I don’t know about that. We haven’t put the invites or the guest-list together yet.
“So who knows whether he’s going to be invited or not? I wouldn’t want to ruin that surprise.”
2. On Social Media
The Prince pressed Obama on whether he could have done more while in office regarding social media.
He said: “The social media landscape has changed dramatically [since you took office], issues of trolling, fake news and cyber-bullying are major social issues – is there more you could have done as President to get ahead of some of these issues?”
3. On The Events Of 2017
Although he didn’t specify why, Harry did acknowledge that 2017 had been something of a tough year.
He said to Obama: “At the end of 2016 many people were relieved it had finished, it was a turbulent year – 2017 hasn’t exactly been easy for the world and many people are worried about the direction the world is headed.
“Can you give a reason for people to feel optimistic for the year ahead?”
4. On Climate Change
The Prince, whose father is known for his concern about the environment, said nature was giving “clues” about what was going wrong in nature.
He added: “I’m determined to make sure that myself and the young generation and everybody else this pendulum is going to swing and 2018 is going to be a fantastic year and we all need to play our part.”
5. On Military Cuts
Harry, who himself served in Afghanistan, seemed to touch upon the row over cuts to the military, when he said there are “not so many” in the forces now.