Special relationship in strange times will strengthen ties with US
racial tensions, he has chosen a biracial, divorced actress to be his wife.
Americans view the Prince as charismatically impressive. Someone who is not afraid to ruffle a few feathers and a man who has made a clear statement against those prejudices by refusing to allow them to affect his personal choices.
He has undoubtedly brought the royal family into the 21st century as a prince for our times.
Together, he and Meghan are taking the British monarchy – the most conservative of institutions – into a more modern era.
Here their engagement underscores the recent shift in the Windsors which has created a legion of new fans in the States.
They are seen as a new generation of royals eager to project themselves as modern, inclusive and down-to-earth.
This latest set, including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, have in recent years tried to connect better with the public whereas the Queen has maintained a more traditionally aloof style.
But today, as Harry and Suits actress Meghan plan for their May nuptials at Windsor Castle, all trace of the snobbery that first greeted them as a couple has gone.
Gone is the curiosity surround- ing the mixed race, American actress as Britain now takes her to their hearts.
Not since Diana, Princess of Wales has there been this kind of interest from young people in a member of the royal family.
In the era of Brexit and Donald Trump – a time when we’ve seen an increase in racially motivated crimes, hateful rhetoric and fear mongering – Prince Harry’s union with Meghan is not only a bold antidote, it’s astonishingly political.
Just as Princess Diana broke down the stuffiest of royal traditions and conventions, her younger son and his new fiancée are modernising the royal household all over again.
Prince Harry will not be the first senior member of the royal family to marry an American, nor an American who has been married once before.
Any comparisons between their engagement and that of Edward VIII, who gave up the throne so he could marry divorced American Wallis Simpson, end there, however.
What makes this royal couple different from any other is the way Harry has – with, it seems, the positive influence of Meghan – broken out of the tight constraints of royal protocol to discuss grief, mental health and to share his searingly honest admission of not always wanting to be a prince.
We live in strange times, with an American president who panders to right-wing hate, in a world that at times seems to have taken several steps back.
So when a British prince goes against both royal and societal norms to propose to his biracial girlfriend, it’s worth noting how far he had brought the Windsors.
Harry and Meghan will play an important role in the coming decades in ensuring Britain’s monarchy continues to flourish.
Their marriage will also strengthen the ties between the United States and the United Kingdom, at a time when American and British leadership is very much lacking.