Prince Harry has come under both heavy fire and strong defense after making a personal $1.5 million (£1.1 million) donation to Children in Need during his recent visit to the UK.

The Duke of Sussex, who stepped back from royal duties with Meghan Markle in 2020, returned to London on Monday (8 September) to attend the WellChild Awards, where he has served as patron for over 15 years. The following day, Harry traveled to Nottingham to visit the Community Recording Studio, an initiative backed by BBC Children in Need.

There, he embraced young people taking part, applauded a rap performance, and spoke movingly about the impact of violence on youth. “Nottingham has been a place where I’ve heard harrowing stories, learned important lessons, seen resilience, and felt truly inspired,” he said before announcing his £1.1 million donation.

“The challenges remain serious and sadly aren’t getting any easier,” he continued. “Violence impacting young people, particularly knife crime, continues to devastate lives, cut futures short, and leave families in grief.” He added that he hoped the donation — coming from his personal funds rather than his Archewell foundation — would support changemakers in Nottingham working to create safe spaces, tackle food poverty, fight racism, and address educational inequality.

Critics cry ‘charm offensive’

No sooner had the announcement been made than critics questioned Harry’s motives. Good Morning Britain asked followers whether the gift was “genuine” or a “charm offensive.”

Piers Morgan, a longtime adversary of the Sussexes, blasted the donation as “a comically crude attempt to buy back British people’s support,” adding that it would not work because Harry had “spent years being so offensive about the Royal Family.”

Others piled on, suggesting Harry was trying to “buy his way back into the UK and the monarchy,” or describing the gesture as “a desperate PR investment” after years of interviews, a Netflix series, and his memoir Spare.