Harry 'froze out' best pal after Meghan found out about 'insulting …

Prince Harry's life has changed drastically since starting a relationship with Meghan Markle - and it's even impacted his friendships. Having once shared a close-knit group of pals with Prince William, it's recently been reported that Harry now 'only has six pals in Britain'. His small circle are said to be unwilling to challenge the royal when he makes 'bad decisions', which could be down to the cautionary tale of Tom Inskip.

Skippy, to use his affectionate nickname, was a classmate with Harry at Eton and his father Owen Inskip, is friends with King Charles. However, 'wingman' Tom found himself being 'frozen out' by Harry after he made an 'insulting' comment about his relationship with Meghan.

Everything cancelled or closed on King's Coronation weekend - from football to shopsPrince Harry with childhood pal Tom Inskip in 2013 (Getty Images)Skippy is one of Harry's oldest friends (Getty Images)

One of Harry's oldest pals, Skippy has been alongside the prince during a number of his most infamous scandals He was there when Harry was seen inhaling 'hippy crack' at a party in 2010 and when the duke was photographed naked during a game of 'strip billiards' in Las Vegas in 2012.

Before Harry and Meghan's romance was officially confirmed, the fledgling couple were guests at Tom's wedding to Hon Lara Hughes-Young in 2017. But the childhood pals reportedly had a big falling out when Skippy questioned the suitability of Meghan as a future royal. According to the 2020 book Finding Freedom, Tom expressed doubts about how quickly the relationship was moving and told Harry he should live with Meghan before "doing anything more serious".

Authors Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote that although Tom's advice "came from a good place", Harry "didn't totally see it that way". A source close to the Sussexes said in the book: "It really hurt him that someone he was so close to would not trust his judgment."

Tom Inskip and his wife Lara Hughes-Young (PA)Harry and Meghan were guests at Tom's wedding to Lara (Getty Images)

As a result of the falling out, it was claimed Skippy and wife Lara were 'punished' by being excluded from part of Harry and Meghan's wedding. They went to the ceremony at Windsor Castle in 2018 but were not invited to the evening wedding party at Frogmore House.

A source told the Express that Meghan didn't want Skippy or wife Lara at the wedding at all. The insider said: "All the poor guy did, during a heart to heart with the prince, was to venture that Harry might be infatuated, more in lust than love, and maybe he might think about cooling things down before rushing into a proposal." However, the old mates reportedly reconciled a year later after the tragic death of Tom's mother-in-law, Emma St Helens.

To commemorate her mum, Tom's wife Lara raised money for Heads Together, which was a charity partner of Harry. Pals said the prince donated a significant sum, with a source telling The Sun: "Skippy and Harry are back as tight friends. When Harry heard about Lara's mother's horrible passing, it really hit a nerve.

"Lara has raised money to support research into mental health and Harry decided to let bygones be bygones."

Harry Aubrey-Fletcher, Thomas van Straubenzee, Guy Pelly and Tom Inskip are all pals of Prince Harry (Getty Images)

After burying the hatchet, Tom has seemingly returned to the fold and was one of the first to congratulate Harry when Prince Archie was born. Harry allegedly phoned his best friend immediately after the birth to share the good news and invited him to come and see the baby right away. A source close to the couple told the Sun: They said: "One of the first of his old chums with whom Harry wanted to share the great news was Skippy, who is just happy to be back in the fold.

"Tom is genuinely happy that he was proved wrong about Meghan - because he, like everyone else, can see that they are absolutely devoted to each other.

"But he doesn't feel guilty about asking Harry if he was sure he was going the right thing in the first place - he felt he was only doing what a good friend should do, in talking it through with Harry."