Perhaps tragedy looms

Hmm. Another revelation from Prince Harry. Am I shocked and surprised? No. Do I care? I'm afraid not, and I won't be buying his new book, Spare. But I do see the signs of coming tragedy.

The everyday doings of the Royal Family, and stories about them, have always seemed remote from my own life, and have rarely had any personal impact. I admit to being touched by the Queen Mother's death in 2002, because I had met her. I was much moved by the Queen's Covid-lockdown address in 2020, and her promise that 'we'll meet again', because hope for the future was needed and she struck exactly the right note. Then on one evening last September, when in Scotland, tears came to my eyes as I heard on the radio of the Queen's death. It was the end of an era. She'd come to the throne in the same year as I was born, and now she'd gone. 

But really that's about it for personal impact. 

Both those Royal Ladies may have had their bad moments in private, but they accepted the strictures of their jobs as well as the privileges. Whether they hated the tiresome court protocol or not, they both wore a quiet smile, behaving at all times faultlessly and diplomatically, and earning worldwide respect for doing so. I don't doubt for an instant that beneath the façade both had many weaknesses, and were prey to such things as self-doubt, anxiety, and weariness, and could be faulted on any of the failings that ordinary people get criticised for. They were real persons, after all. We all know now that the Queen could giggle; but she hid things like that if they would undermine her public image, and to the last remained imperturbable and inspirational, the world's Number One Woman.

I don't think Prince Harry's position is the same. The standard of behaviour isn't nearly so onerous. But he still has a duty to maintain respect for the institution he was born into. He might well complain that he didn't choose to be a prince, but that's the way it is; and he has certainly used that status to get attention. Is he bound by the 'don't explain and never complain' maxim? Not to the extent that his father now is. But in Prince Harry's shoes I would still feel obliged to be discreet, and to take care what I reveal to the public. Once it's out there, there will be consequences.

This new book of his has been very much discussed already, as the Spanish version has been published ahead of the English one. I'm hoping that something has been lost in retranslation. For instance, that odd reference to his wearing a 'necklace' which broke when his brother got hold of him and shoved him to the floor - surely it was in fact a man's neck chain? I'm expecting to hear that the 'proper' version is worded differently. 

Even so, the discussion has centred on a string of disclosures, none of them particularly shocking, that do not show Prince Harry in the best light. If these are the highlights of the book, then the rest of it must be dull. 

I dare say the general intention is to reveal that he was undervalued, bullied and misunderstood, the victim of a relentless palace misinformation campaign that got unbearable once he met Meghan. I certainly do think that life in such an artificial environment must be difficult and frustrating to anyone hoping for a chance to live their own life, and follow their own star - whatever the perks. And to that extent I don't blame Prince Harry for feeling rebellious. But to publish a book about it?

I can't help feeling he is consciously re-enacting parts of his mother's life, possibly to expose the palace machine once and for all, but maybe with some other motive too. Who knows where it might end. Diana's death still casts a long shadow, and must still haunt the new King. It clearly haunts her younger son. I think another tragedy is in the making here, if Prince Harry remans determined to self-destruct.