Prince Harry needs a royal reminder
Harry needs to find his role in Hollywood, says Vinay Menon.
Has it only been two years since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got hitched?
Wow. The last 24 months must feel closer to five decades for the defrocked royals. But, no. On Tuesday, with the world in pandemic mode, Harry and Meghan quietly toasted their second wedding anniversary while reportedly locked down inside Tyler Perry’s Beverly Hills mansion.
How did they celebrate? What am I, the Amazing Kreskin? I have no idea. But if I had to take a wild guess, I’d say they swapped gifts ranging from diamond earrings to yoga mats. They probably FaceTimed with Oprah. Selfies were snapped with baby Archie for posterity. A bottle of Dom Pérignon was uncorked. Then the family screened Disney’s “Elephant” — the doc narrated by the Duchess — as the Duke slapped his knees with delight and shouted, “Great job, Megs!”
Here are two facts I gleaned about the world’s largest land animals from the WWF: 1. “An elephant never forgets.” 2. “They communicate through vibrations.”
Why am I telling you this? I’m not. Those two points are directed at Harry.
On Wednesday, the couple officially start Year Three of marriage. From the outside looking in, they are finally living the life they wanted to live. Terrific. If Year One was about coping with tabloid taunts, haters and the shackles of Buckingham Palace, Year Two was all about the Great Escape.
As if prisoners in a maximum-security fortress, Harry and Meghan chipped away at the cinder blocks of their cells, tunnelled into the courtyard at midnight and scaled the barbed-wire fence.
They abandoned royal life and set out on a two-part itinerary towards happily ever after.
First, Megxit had them temporarily slumming in Canada. I still feel cheap and used. Then Megxit 2 crystallized as the Holy Grail of reinvention, as British Columbia was ditched for California and the English monarchy was scuppered at the altar of North American celebrity.
It was like watching two trapeze artists climb into a hammock and then spoon off-camera.
So Tuesday’s anniversary in Los Angeles should provide the blueprint for anniversaries three through 50. Hollywood is where the couple wants to base future work, charitable or otherwise. For Meghan, an actress with new-found A-list connections, this makes perfect sense. For Harry, not so much. What’s increasingly alarming about Megxit and Megxit 2 is how Harry appears to be an extra in his own biopic. It’s as if Michael Jordan benched himself during the Bulls’ championship runs. Let me be clear. That’s not a shot at Meghan, who has been savaged in some corners as nothing more than a succubus who seduced Harry and then went gold-digging by climbing a social ladder.
Meghan has endured vicious attacks on her alleged ulterior motives. If she were an Uber driver, she’d arrive in less than 30 seconds, find the perfect route and safely drop off her passengers without incident.
Then every second rider would scowl and give her a one-star rating just because.
Meghan was never going to make it as a royal, that much is now clear. But what about Harry? He’s not an actor. He does not have an army of agents beating down studio doors.
His only friends in L.A. are the celebrities Meghan brings home. It’s like he’s been forced into endless loop of adult playdates.
Unlike an elephant, Harry has wilfully forgotten everything he knows, and does not appear to be picking up on the vibrations rumbling under his feet on the West Coast.
Now, considering the couple is in the midst of a lawsuit against Fleet Street tabloids, it’s important to remember you have to take every story about them — especially those with unnamed “sources” — with a boulder-sized grain of salt. Even still, the stories in recent months are notable for how there is absolute consensus on Meghan: she’s over the moon and thrilled to be free of royalty.
As for Harry — and, again, large grain of salt — I’ve been startled by how many times I’ve read about how he is allegedly miserable or lost or freefalling through an identity crisis.
Do I believe Harry proposing to Meghan was a “terrible mistake,” as some now suggest?
Absolutely not. That said, heading into Year 3 of marriage, it might be wise for Harry to take an active interest in his own dreams — for the sake of his family. What does he want to do beyond being a great husband and father? What are his interests? His passions? Who does he want to spend time with now that he’s severed ties with his past? How does he want to be remembered?
For the last two years, Harry has cast himself into the shadows. Now he’s living in a faraway land, cut off from preexisting friends and family. Compared to the day before they met, Meghan has become a global superstar and Harry’s profile is evaporating in realtime like a puddle in the blazing sunshine.
By his fifth anniversary, I may well need Google to recall his name.
If this is the life he wants, fine, I stand down and apologize for even raising the issue.
But it seems to me, Harry is more of an elephant than he seems to realize.
When lockdown ends, he should remember who he is and where he comes from.
He should sense the vibrations and, for the first time in marriage, step out of the shadows.