Your royal highness? It’s Harry to you
Royal visitor keeps things informal after taking the train to Edinburgh for sustainable tourism event
The Duke of Sussex yesterday insisted that delegates at his travel conference address him purely as “Harry”, in a sign of how he sees his future outside the Royal family. “He’s made it clear that we are all just to call him Harry,” said Ayesha Hazarika, the broadcaster who introduced the Duke to the audience in Edinburgh. In the first of a series of engagements in the coming 12 days, the Duke attended a “working summit” for Travalyst, his sustainable tourism project.
AS THE Duke of Sussex embarked on his last round of engagements before stepping down from the working Royal family, there was only one way to introduce himself.
“He’s made it clear that we are all just to call him Harry,” delegates at his travel conference were told yesterday, in a sign of how he sees his new status in the eyes of the world.
The Duke, who had travelled to Edinburgh from his Canadian home for the event, said he wanted to be on firstname terms only, in what his host described as “very much the spirit” of how he wanted the day to run. From April 1, he will formally retain his title of His Royal Highness The Duke of Sussex but will not use the HRH as part of an agreement with the Queen, while he and the Duchess pursue “financial independence”.
In the first of a series of engagements in the coming 12 days, he attended a “working summit”
for his sustainable tourism project, Travalyst, telling industry experts there was an “increasing desire for these types of trips – and we want to make them a reality for everyone”.
The event was hosted by broadcaster Ayesha Hazarika, who introduced the Duke, saying: “He’s made it clear that we are all just to call him Harry. So ladies and gentlemen, please give a big, warm Scottish welcome to Harry.”
Dressed casually in an open-neck shirt, he spoke to travel industry experts from the stage at Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
“We believe travel is a good thing. It is the heart of human experience, of cultural connections, and of new friendships,” he said.
“It is a global powerhouse that employs hundreds of millions of people, keeping culture alive, protecting some of the world’s most precious spaces, and that introduces us to people, places and wildlife that we’ve only ever seen on a screen.
It is these experiences that we remember and cherish.”
But he said of the rapid growth in the number of worldwide travellers: “If we do not act, and in large part get ahead of this inevitable surge, this massive increase will mean we see more of the world’s beautiful destinations closed or destroyed, more communities becoming overwhelmed, more beaches shut because of pollution, and animals and wildlife driven from their natural habitat, which has a huge impact on communities and reduces tourism opportunities.”
After strong criticism about his use of private jets, the Duke flew commercially to the UK this week and travelled from London to Edinburgh by train on Tuesday night.
He stayed at the Sheraton Hotel, where protection officers worked with hotel management to spirit him through a back exit.
Ms Hazarika said: “When I was introduced to him I was a bit worried about what I should say, what were the right things, and he was ... very relaxed, and just [said], ‘Harry, just call me Harry.’ And that’s very much the spirit of how he wanted it the event today.” She confirmed that she was specifically asked to tell the audience this. “I did say His Royal Highness Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, but he would like you to call him Harry. He was not making a big deal about it.” The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will undertake a series of public engagements before Commonwealth Day on March 9.