Royalty or not, his net worth is in the $10M range.
As an Irish Catholic American, what surprises me most about the monarchy is that it still exists. It’s as if a nation of adults still believes in Santa Claus. It was fun to watch the weddings and I may even watch some of the coronation, but I wouldn’t want to pay for it. And if I were asked to kneel or curtsy to Charles, William or Kate, I’d refuse-not only because as an American, I’m not supposed to do that, but also because I find the idea both appalling and hilarious.
I haven’t watched Netflix. I did watch Oprah, 60 minutes and Colbert and found Harry more sympathetic than I expected. He is obviously still traumatized by his mother’s death. It’s not just that she died. It’s HOW she died. She didn’t have a heart attack or stroke. Her car was run off the road by paparazzi (albeit unintentionally) who then photographed her body. Nobody was ever prosecuted.
And I suspect that the adults around him didn’t much care. My ex-H died recently and a friend of my adult child offered me effusive condolences. It was awkward. I didn’t wish him dead. I didn’t exult in his death. However, I certainly wasn’t devastated by it.
Harry is sympathetic to how difficult it must have been for his father to find the words to tell him and William about their mother’s death. But certainly, he was aware that his father wasn’t devastated by Diana’s death. Neither was his grandmother, who had to be more or less FORCED to give that speech about her death.
So, I think H’s situation is more akin to that of a child whose parent was murdered, who knew who was responsible but watched while they went unpunished, and who was surrounded by people–his father, the queen, Camilla–who weren’t all that upset by her demise. And then those same people forced you to perform for the masses as if you were a circus animal. You’d have to deal not only with grief, but with ANGER.
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Interesting analogy. Santa Claus isn’t real. The monarchy has been in existence for centuries. I wouldn’t have any problem curtsying because in my view it’s a sign of respect based on the traditions and culture of that country. I’m not pledging any sort of allegiance to the monarchy.
Personally I like the pomp and pageantry of the monarchy. Yes the public supports them and perhaps in the future will choose not to but the “Firm” does significantly contribute economically so the money flow isn’t all one way.
While the average annual cost for UK taxpayers in royal upkeep comes to around £500m a year, Brand Finance estimates the monarchy’s brand contributes £2.5bn to the British economy in the same timeframe.
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Your post really made me think about the circumstances of his mother’s death. It put things in a different perspective for me. Thank you for that
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I’m almost finished with the book and really haven’t had time to process all of it yet.
The paparazzi have made his life pure hell, and the press writes outright horrid lies. His family throw each other under the bus to serve their own images. Such confusion and betrayal.
Harry seems extremely immature in so many ways, but he has lead an incredibly mature life, also.
I was surprised to find out that he and his brother are not as close as the press wants us to believe and William is extremely competitive with him, with the need to always be on “top”, but that is a universal family dynamic. I see that with my DH and his younger brother. They really have a complicated relationship.
I think it’s great Harry left…got out. Such complicated feelings to love his family, yet they leave him (and each other)high and dry, or even stab you in the back.
What a messed up organization. The book is definitely part explanation of his life, part revenge, part therapy. The Penis story was funny when it was just mentioned once, as it was just meant for some levity…but he kept bringing it up and I kept thinking enough already.
All in all I feel I understand him better and have much sympathy. They would have had more global sympathy without Meghan getting in the middle, she should have stayed out of it. The Netflix series really didn’t do them any good.
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$100M (or whatever $$M) is nothing to sneeze at. 
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I believe Prince Harry is smiling today.
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This is Harry’s side of things. I’m guessing his family may recollect they tried to give him more support than he may be remembering. And in their own, probably imperfect way. But who knows . I am #6 in the queue for getting his book from my library. I still look forward to reading all he has to say, although I’ve seen lots of interviews with him already-Oprah , Cooper, Colbert,etc.
I do hope for better relationships for the family down the line. I guess we’ll see how this all plays out in the next few months, with the coronation coming up in May.
After the Oprah, Netflix, endless Youtube clips, I didn’t have very much sympathy for either H or M. I haven’t read the book but after a few of the talk show/60 Minutes, etc, I think I do have a little more understanding of his position. I don’t agree with writing/publishing the book or trashing the family because I think it does more harm than good, but he is one hurting soul.
I’ve never thought he was very bright, either in school or with reading the room. Meghan, on the other hand, is book smart and seems to be able to figure stuff out. Her claims of not knowing how to curtsy or what a walkabout are ring false. Her (and H’s) claims that the press was always out to get her also have no back up evidence. I’d like to see “On April 10, 2019, a story appeared in The Mail about Meghan doing XYZ (yelling at staff, spending millions on French designer clothing, taking pictures of her stealing make-up) and that was totally false and planted by Princess Anne’s press secretary.” There just aren’t any examples with the specifics they are claiming.
But yes, he looks like a very sad red headed step child. I hope he realizes what he has with a wife I think he really does adore and two cute kids will be enough for him.
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It seems the British press has been out and get Meghan if you check out this link. I am baffled by how the British press treat Kate and Meghan so differently, even when they did the same thing.
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I think it’s pretty easy to find evidence that the press, specifically the British tabloids, treated Meghan harshly and even cruelly. What I haven’t seen is any corroborating evidence that those stories were deliberately fed to the press by his family, or by their staff with the family’s knowledge and approval, in order to bring Meghan down and/or prop someone else up, which is what Harry is claiming (from what I can tell–if I’m wrong, someone please let us know what he actually is saying).
(I thought I was done with this soap opera but to my own surprise I am now considering reading the book. If I do I’ll post about it.)
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Good as far as global sympathy. I understand it was for the money, but they wanted both. Harry wants and needs to be understood.
Oh, I think she is conniving and don’t believe for one instant she was as naive at not knowing all about the royal family as she claims. She definitely had and has him hoodwinked in that regard.
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I plan to read the book because I would like to read his side of the story in context. Some people are up in arms after reading snippets of what has made headlines.
I may be up in arms, too, but only after I read the book.
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IMO, Santa Claus is every bit as real as the divine right of kings, which is the basis of the monarchy. And Santa Claus has been around longer than the House of Windsor.
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I have seen some snippets of the book criticized in the press. In listening to the book, I see that a lot of it is purposely twisting his words.
Harry would say, “My Pa said blah blah blah…” Press would say “Harry criticized his father for saying ‘blah blah blah’…” But in the book Harry WENT ON TO SAY “and he was actually completely in the right for saying it.”
They deliberately twist things, counting on the fact that many people will refuse to read the book, so the only take they get on it is the Tabloids.
I’m still not too far into it, but so far I find Harry to be a really sympathetic character-he is not shy AT ALL at revealing his shortcomings. I feel like he was cursed to be born into this family-Diana could have possibly shielded him from much of the horrible stuff he has experienced, but when she died, he lost that protective barrier. I may still change my mind as the book progresses, but where I am in the book now (I think he is 20 or 21), I just feel that he has been dealt a really bad hand. Just because your parents are wealthy doesn’t mean you have a charmed life. Really, money doesn’t buy happiness. When are people going to realize this?
Again, I’m not too far into the book. Maybe by the end, I’ll hate him. We’ll see.
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I don’t love or hate Harry but I’ve come to believe a lot of this for Harry is plain old jealousy wrt his brother inheriting a billion plus while he ‘only’ inherits about 16M.
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My take on “finding any collaborating evidence that those stories were deliberately fed to the press by his family or his staff, with the family knowledge or approval” is that it will be very difficult to find, if not impossible.
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Those who carried these tasks (leaking to the press) must be someone who is quite tight with the Firm and has absolute loyalty to the Firm.
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that someone who wanted to rat out the Firm would need to choose between the Firm and a prince in exile (with waning popularity). Who wants to speak up in support of Harry and risk his/her livelihood in England? Not worth it.
At least, this is my conspiracy theory!!
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Lol, you’re probably right, though a part of me thinks someone at some point must have had enough reason to talk. Then again that person would likely be a disgruntled former employee, getting paid to divulge secrets, and therefore not a credible source.
So I guess we’re all left with believing Harry’s version or not. I personally suspect that the truth likely lies somewhere in the middle.
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I certainly don’t hate Harry and I wish he and his family all the best. I also have never thought that money buys happiness.His book is HIS truth. And I do look forward to reading it once I get it from the library, hopefully in the next week or two.