Prince Harry the Sad could learn from the King
This week’s pictures of King Charles and Prince Harry reveal their starkly contrasting fortunes. On a state visit to Italy, the King has been photographed laughing with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, greeting the convalescent Pope Francis and making politicians chuckle with an historic Parliamentary address delivered partly in Italian.
A pitch perfect elder statesman, he represents Britain with style and grace. But it’s not just business. The King and Queen have also been photographed celebrating their twentieth wedding anniversary, Camilla in the same frock she wore two decades ago. The couple’s obvious contentment makes the power play all the softer.
Cue Prince Harry. The Duke of Sussex has been in London this week for the latest round in one of the many legal battles he is fighting. Photos show him entering the Court of Appeal as he pleads with judges to overturn a decision to downgrade the state-funded police protection he receives when he visits the UK.
A grimace for the camera notwithstanding, he cuts a sad and lonely figure. With Meghan busy flogging jam and podcasts in Montecito, Harry seems to have only his legal team for company. He will, apparently, head back to California before his father returns to the UK.
Differences between father and son have rarely seemed greater. Charles is happy, purposeful and increasingly influential. Harry, meanwhile, has fully transitioned from joyful youth to bitter middle-age. Pursuing legal cases - whether against newspapers or the British state - seems to have become his primary goal in life. It’s a tedious, expensive and miserable way to live.
But Harry has only himself to blame. Not only did he choose to leave the Royal Family and the UK, he also chose to make public accusations against those closest to him through his tell-all autobiography and his television appearances. He is, even now, choosing legal battles over family reconciliation or simply spending time with his own young children.
What’s curious is that Harry has dedicated so much time and money to exploring his emotions. He is evangelical about therapy. In 2021, he made a documentary about his mental health where he was filmed meditating and engaging in ‘eye movement desensitisation’ to aleviate anxiety. Yet contentment seems to elude him.
Looking at pictures of his father this week, perhaps Harry might consider that a life spent shaking hands with expectant crowds and cutting ribbons on renovated hospital wards is not so bad after all. Duty and purpose make for a far happier and more meaningful life than any amount of expensive therapy.
Originally published in The Times:
https://www.thetimes.com/article/16b7b878-f913-46ca-9732-7f9abc99511e?shareToken=199aeecbbbeddfb3f775138f561fb56b