I’ve gotten a vibe from Prince Harry over the past few months. That vibe? Seething and protective. Protective of Meghan, and seething towards everyone attacking his wife. During the Christmas Day church-stroll, I said that it looked like Meghan and Kate were doing all of the heavy lifting of “looking friendly,” all while William and Harry seemed like they couldn’t even look at each other without it turning into a fist fight. I know I’m going off on a conspiratorial limb here, but I really do think that this whole time, “the war of the duchesses” was only a cover for Harry and William having a significant falling out.
In those months of seething, Harry has done some low-key solo appearances, but he hasn’t made many public statements about anything, really. Today, he did a pre-scheduled event on behalf of his “Commonwealth Youth Ambassador” role, and he made some public statements.
Prince Harry spent Wednesday morning meeting young people from around the world as he took the next step in his role for his grandmother Queen Elizabeth. Harry, 34, took part in a roundtable discussion with young leaders from across the Commonwealth. It was part of his position as Commonwealth Youth Ambassador, which he took on for the Queen last April. He and wife Meghan Markle, 37, see the Commonwealth as taking an important role in their working life.
Wednesday’s meeting at Lancaster House in London was hosted by Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, Minister of State for the Commonwealth, and saw the young people brief Harry about the issues that are key to them in the run up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2020 (CHOGM).
Harry made a speech at the meeting, and he referenced his wife’s pregnancy: “As someone who is about to become a father, I am acutely aware of our shared responsibility to make this world more resilient and its inhabitants more accountable for the next generation. The only way to see real progress is not by chance, it’s by change.” A nice reference, but it’s not cloying or anything. I imagine Harry is playing his cards close to the vest these days as he and Meghan are in such a transition phase – Harry doesn’t want to make any kind of statement that will be too revealing, too tabloidy, anything that could be any kind of grist for anyone’s particular mill. It’s fine.
Harry speaks about impending fatherhood as he addresses Commonwealth youth leaders. pic.twitter.com/SrAOIWUlgA
— Rebecca English (@RE_DailyMail) January 30, 2019
Photos courtesy of Getty.
HAHA that face! I get that he’s feeling protective. What a difficult time he and Meghan have had. I’ve had a falling out with my brothers (we’ve also lost our mom, years before) and it’s very hard. It would be excruciating to have to live that out in the public eye.
It’s interesting he’s doing a lot more engagements where the press pack aren’t present. Considering their behaviour on Twitter, god knows what they’re like in real life.
I don’t blame him, imagine your pregnant wife being treated this way. He can’t do much and he knows that, hence the attitude.
My conspiracy theory:
Last time a divorced American woman tried to marry into the family it almost “destroyed the monarchy” or whatever and the Queen Mother always said having to assume the crown led to George VI’s early death.
I think the royals picked William (since they are so close) to ask his brother if he was sure about this girl Meghan, Harry blew up, and now there’s a rift between the brothers. Charles, especially, escapes this scot-free and maintains his good relationship with Harry.
And it’s Meghan who has brought Harry closer to Charles. That might irritate Wills too.
Muffy,
Makes sense. Wow divorced American women have made quite a mark on the RF, eh?
Well now, i dunno……theres soon to be a divorced Queen Consort who had a soon to be King wanting to be her tampon. Thats gotta leave quite a mark. (pun intended) Shrugs.
I mean William is famously suspicious though. He made his own wife audition for 10 years to be married to him and he was also notorious for planting fake stories with his friends to see which ones would blab to the press so he could never speak to them again. I know Meg is a perfect unicorn whose entire purpose in life is just to HELP PEOPLE but when she met Harry she was an actress on a basic cable tv show who was very quickly willing to chuck it all and move across the pond to devote herself to being Harry’s wife and a member of the BRF, thus granting her a level of fame and access she would likely never have achieved otherwise. I don’t think it’s that strange that a naturally suspicious person like William is going to look at all that and wonder about her motives. Where he erred would have been expressing any of that to Harry because everyone knows you can’t come between a couple in love. But I don’t think anyone in the family put him up to anything. I think it was just William being William.
I remember when the statement was released back in 2016 there was an article about how William didn’t like that Harry put the statement out. The palace had to release separate statement saying he was behind his brother. Looking back at it now maybe there was some true to that article after all.
Yes, looking back that was probably when it started from.
3/4 of the Queen’s children have gotten divorces so the royals need to take a seat before they clutch their pearls over Meghan’s history.
My father stopped speaking to his older brother shortly after my parents married (looong story short, my uncle’s wife was saying very shady things about my mom) and they literally never spoke again. No joke, about 40 years went by…my uncle died a few years back and my father had never said a word to him after their falling out.
I do hope that William and Harry can reconcile at some point, but I can see why Harry might want some distance right now.
Prince Harry just seems so useless right now. When Kate’s nude photos were released, the royal reaction was swift and fierce; as with the story about Kate wearing taped-in hair extensions (debunked with a quick rebuttal and information about her childhood accident). Do Harry & the palace not have the soft power to quiet these ugly rumors? Even the photos of Meghan on the KP Instagram look mostly cold. He could at least change that! Get in there and defend your pregnant wife, man! I’m glad he went to this event, but he needs to work more and protect Meghan more vocally.
Don’t underestimate race in this. Kate is the English Rose that needs protecting and also future Queen Consort. Meghan, to them, is just an uppity, mixed-race American who thinks she’s somebody.
What does race have to do with Harry’s inaction? If Beyonce, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, etc. can get control of their rogue relatives/friends and control press photos then so can Harry.
Harry spoke out about race/racial bullying before and it caused a huge controversy.
It’s not Harry’s inaction, it’s the fact the racist media react very differently when it’s Kate being defended.
He probably feels useless. When he and the palace released a statement in 2016 asking everyone to back off (essentially), everything seems to have gotten worse. He and Meghan are not Beyonce, Rihanna or Jennifer Lopez. They’re not independent entities with their own PR people. They are part of a larger entity, adorably referred to as The Firm, that calls the shots and pulls the purse strings. Any authority he has (now that he’s retired from the Army) is granted to him purely on his birth and parents. You can’t compare an independent celebrity who is, despite the fame and interest, a private citizen to a member of the British royal family, where many people (monarchists and anti-monarchists alike) feel they own a piece of every member of that family, from the Queen down to Prince Louis.
@Heather — Most mega-celebs like Beyonce function not as independent entities but as companies with contractual obligations to many people, but I see what you are saying. Still, for my money, Harry is simply bad at playing the game. Even within THE FIRM, someone smart and calculating who makes the right alliances and learns the right secrets can get things done. There’s evidence of that throughout British history. You don’t need to be the head to move the body.
@Heather — Most mega-celebs like Beyonce function not as independent entities but as companies with contractual obligations to many people, but I see what you are saying. Still, for my money, Harry is simply bad at playing the game. Even within THE FIRM, someone smart and calculating who makes the right alliances and learns the right secrets can get things done. There’s evidence of that throughout British history. You don’t need to be the head to move the body.
“What does race have to do with Harry’s inaction?”
HAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!
Sure Jan.
The Middletons got the Daily Mail to turn off the comments on James’ article but Harry can’t even get People magazine to stop taking shots at Meghan.
The Sussexes just need to keep engaging with the public. The press will come out looking like the bullies they are.
I don’t blame him for being seething. Hell I get mad at the dog-whistle racism of the British press when it comes to Meghan so I cant imagine how angry it makes the man who loves her.
During their engagement and shortly after their wedding, through the Australia trip, Harry and Meghan seemed to “sizzle” out in the public eye. He looked extraordinarily happy, and so did she.
And then of course, the sh**storm of such horrible press, trashing Meghan morning, noon and night, no matter what she did it was: OH NOES, MEGHAN BREAKS PROTOCOL AGAIN!!!, She’s a showoff, she touches her stomach too much–what an attention whore, she should talk to her father–what a B**ch!!! Her dress is too tight. Why does she wear such bland colors, she spent 1 trillion dollars on her wardrobe! Greedy golddigging Meghan!!!!!
Now, Harry is back to where he used to be–polite, engaged–but not too engaged with the public, dutifully showing up for his engagements…but that sizzle we saw? His utter joy at finding his partner in life and sharing it with the world– GONE.
So, well done Press corps — you have achieved your goal of sh***ng on them until you ruined their “shine.” Nice work.
This makes me sad
I don’t think he has many smiles for people who clearly don’t respect him or his wife. Harry’s definitely in protective mode and I understand. His job, at this point, is to make sure Meghan has a happy and healthy pregnancy. If that means shutting the door on the press for a bit, so be it.
Meghan is glowing and she looks absolutely radiant. I would say he’s doing a great job as her husband and father to be when it comes to keeping his family happy and thriving. He clearly meant it when he said he and Meghan’s relationship comes first.
All the other noise just doesn’t get his attention anymore- and that includes any family members who want to act up.