Harry works to maintain royal ‘magic’
No one in the Royal Family really wants to be king or queen, Prince Harry has suggested, as he vows they will carry out their duty for the “greater good of the people.”
Prince Harry, 32, said his family are “not doing this for ourselves,” as he speaks of trying to maintain an ordinary life alongside his extraordinary duties.
Saying he is now involved in modernizing the British monarchy, he added the young Royals are determined to continue the “positive atmosphere” his grandmother the Queen has inspired for more than 60 years.
In an interview with U.S. magazine Newsweek, he said: “We are not doing this for ourselves but for the greater good of the people. “Is there any one of the Royal Family who wants to be king or queen?
“I don’t think so, but we will carry out our duties at the right time.”
He described how he tries hard to maintain normality by doing his own supermarket shopping.
“People would be amazed by the ordinary life William and I live,” he said. “My mother took a huge part in showing me an ordinary life, including taking me and my brother to see homeless people. Thank goodness I’m not completely cut off from reality.”
He admitted making the Royal Family accessible is a “tricky balancing act,” saying: “We don’t want to dilute the magic. The British public and the whole world need institutions like it.”
The Prince also spoke of his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, and her 1997 funeral at which he walked behind her coffin at the age of 12.
“My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television,” he said.
“I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today.”
Prince Harry has previously spoken frankly about his struggle to come to terms with his mother’s death, telling the Telegraph he had buried his grief for 20 years.
In an interview at Kensington Palace, he said: “I am now fired up and energized and love charity stuff, meeting people and making them laugh.
“I sometimes still feel I am living in a goldfish bowl, but I now manage it better.”
Prince Harry, along with other senior Royals, has gradually taken on more official duties, aiding the Queen and fighting for his own charitable causes.
Saying he feels in a hurry to “make something of my life,” he said of his choice to focus on key causes: “The Queen has been fantastic in letting us choose. She tells us to take our time and really think things through.”