“It’s good to be the King.” – Mel Brooks as King Louis XIV
“Heavy hangs the head the bears the crown.” – Shakespeare’s King Henry IV
Royalty has its ups and downs. Ask the ghosts of Queen Marie Antoinette or Czar Nicholas II.
Got regicide?
Which brings us to King Charles, the reigning British monarch, and then more specifically to Prince Harry, the supposed “black sheep” of the Royal Family.
Many Americans are fascinated by royalty, while many others feel revulsion. But the royals do make news, including this column!
King Charles is the United Kingdom’s “head of state,” while its Prime Minister—currently Andy Burnham—runs the government. In America, the President serves both roles; i.e., President Trump runs the government while King Donald I serves as head of state.
Now 77, Charles ascended the throne after the death of his mother, the beloved Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away at 96 in 2022. His elder son William is the current heir, while the younger Harry remains a “Spare” (the title of his autobiography). Their mom was Princess Diana, Charles’ first wife before they divorced in 1996. She died in a Paris car crash in 1997.
William and his wife Kate seem solid, popular heirs to the throne.
Harry and his wife Meghan Markle? Not so much. That couple relinquished their royal duties years ago and moved to the States to make a new life. Now they’re returning to the Kingdom, and there’s royal trouble.
According to RadarOnline, Harry’s father, King Charles, was “furious” after learning that the Duke of Sussex allegedly informed British security officials of his return first. Harry apparently reached out to the British Home Office in early August to get a head start on security for himself, Meagan, and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Only afterward did Charles learn of their intended move.
“The King understands perfectly well why the appropriate authorities needed advance warning, particularly given Harry’s long-running concerns about security,” a royal source told the outlet.
“What angered him and made him furious was discovering that officials apparently knew something as significant as his son’s return before he did.”
The insider noted that, “after everything that has happened between them, Charles regarded that as extremely disappointing. This isn’t some routine visit lasting a couple of days – Harry is bringing his wife and children back to Britain.”
Another insider emphasized the “frustration” Charles feels, given that he and Harry “had finally begun making some progress personally.” The source added, “The King wants a relationship with his son and particularly wants opportunities to see his grandchildren. Against that background, finding himself further down the information chain than the Home Office was never going to improve matters.”
Consider Prince William, Harry’s older brother. The two have been at odds since Harry lamented his UK treatment in Spare. William was not amused.
Many think of princes and princesses as living in wonderful fairytale worlds, but apparently, it can be hellish. Ask the ghosts of Czar Nicholas’s family members, who were murdered by Russian Bolsheviks, in true communist fashion.
Excerpts from William & Catherine: The Intimate Inside Story, written by the Daily Mirror’s Royal Editor, Russell Myers, appear to pinpoint the exact moment the difficulties between the warring brothers began. Referring to Harry’s well-known feelings about his need for royal protection, Myers writes in the serialization in “The Mirror” that the Duke’s concerns were exacerbated when his then-girlfriend Meghan, “became a target on social media owing to her biracial heritage” during the early days of their relationship.
Harry demanded that action be taken. Royal aides informed him they were powerless to act, so he turned his attention to the royal protection teams funded by the Home Office. When told any such protection would not be provided until after he and Meghan were married, Harry was incredulous and appealed to his father and brother to intervene.
“The (then) Prince of Wales insisted he could not become involved in a government decision, especially one where any costs would be footed by taxpayers, but Harry was well aware that William’s wife Catherine had not only received unofficial guidance from the palace when merely his brother’s girlfriend, but that she had also qualified for round-the-clock protection as soon as they became engaged.”
Poor Harry.
The prince did serve in the British Royal Army for ten years and did two tours in Afghanistan. He left that service in 2015. Harry later described his ten years in the army as “the happiest time of my life.”
The British base in Afghanistan, Camp Bastion, was adjacent to the Camp Leatherneck U.S. Marine base in Helmand Province, where I spent some time. The only radio station we could get there was a BBC outlet, so I became up to date on UK news during my deployment there in 2010.
I truly do believe that Harry was happy in the Afghan dirt with his mates. Unfortunately, when the Taliban learned Harry was in-country, they wanted his scalp, so to speak—if not his head, à la Marie Antoinette. So, the British high command removed Harry from harm’s way to protect his mates.
Now he’s in a different sort of harm’s way, bracing for “incoming” from family, pundits, and a robust British tabloid media.
There is perhaps a cautionary tale here for prospective princes and princesses dreaming of palaces and pageantry. Is Harry’s stated preference for foxholes over fox hunts believable?
As a Marine Corps infantry officer who similarly spent plenty of time living with comrades in dirty deserts around the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan, I absolutely do believe that’s where Harry was truly happy.
