Prince Harry says no one in his family wants to be the King or Queen

Prince says no one in family wants to be King or Queen

London: Prince Harry said no one in Britain’s royal family wants to be king or queen and criticised a decision to force him to parade behind his mother Princess Diana’s coffin after her death in 1997, according to an interview with a U.S. magazine.

“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?” Harry, 32, who is fifth in line to the throne, told the Newsweek magazine

“I don’t think so, but we will carry out our duties at the right time.”

Queen Elizabeth, 91, has been on the throne since 1952 and is currently the world’s oldest and longest reigning monarch. Harry said they wanted to carry on her work but her family would not be “trying to fill her boots”.

“The monarchy is a force for good,” he said. “We don’t want to dilute the magic ... The British public and the whole world need institutions like it.”

Harry, along with his elder brother William and William’s wife Kate, has become a prominent mental health campaigner, citing his own anguish and emotional struggles following the death of his mother in a Paris car crash 20 years ago and disclosing how he sought counselling to help him cope.

In the interview, Harry said how the decision to make him walk behind her coffin as the funeral cortege slowly made its way through the packed streets of London in front of huge crowds of mourners when he was just 12 had had a lasting impact.

“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.”

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. —Prince Harry

Prince Harry said they wanted to carry on Queen Elizabeth’s work but her family would not be trying to fill her boots

Harry and his elder brother William have become prominent mental health campaigners

He cited his own anguish following Diana’s death