‘Harrymania’ sweeps Elvis country
Harry’s former girlfriend Cressida Bonas may have been wary of becoming a British royal, but his sister-in-law, Kate, has transformed the role, writes Sarah Rainey
IT WAS meant to be a quiet prewedding dinner, but the visit of a newly single Prince Harry and his brother to a barbecue restaurant in Memphis in the US turned into a presidential-style event with a security convoy, news helicopters and gaggles of screaming girls.
The Prince and the Duke of Cambridge spent two hours at a restaurant called Rendezvous among 175 guests toasting the marriage this week of their friend, Guy Pelly, to Lizzy Wilson. As “Harry-mania” swept Memphis, the 29-year-old was greeted with cries of “Oh my God” and “We love you!” as he stepped from a Chevrolet Suburban driven by a US State Department agent.
Onlookers hung out of a multi- storey car park trying to catch a glimpse of the prince, who was dressed in a light blue shirt and jeans, and the duke, who arrived in a separate vehicle.
“We’re very aware of the fact Harry is now an eligible bachelor,” said Dorothy Oehmler, 18, referring to his recent split from Cressida Bonas, 25.
Oehmler, who went to the restaurant with two friends, said: “We heard they were here so we came down and saw all these people standing here. It was cool to see him.”
Allie Fairly, 19, said: “This is the biggest thing that’s happened in Memphis. It’s amazing they’re here.”
Inside the restaurant, a large Union flag was draped from a balcony as the princes tucked into bar- becue ribs, chicken, beef brisket, beans and coleslaw.
“It was as Memphis as you can get,” said John Vergos, the restaurant’s owner. “There was beer and wine, but some of the Brits seemed to like Jack Daniels.”
The designer Kathryn Miller made invitations for the event featuring a pig dressed as Elvis Presley, whose Graceland home is in Memphis.
The princes left Rendezvous at 10.30pm and were driven to a private house where they are staying.
Near the airport, the owner of the Pony strip club had put up a sign reading “Welcome Prince Harry”. — ©
ROYAL break-ups are notoriously difficult to dissect. As gossip swirls around the separation of Prince Harry and his long-term girlfriend, Cressida Bonas, we may never know the reasons behind their split.
Was Cressy, 25, “too clingy”? Was the publicity all too much, as a friend revealed, and Bonas, a dance graduate who had been dating Harry for two years, unable to withstand the “full glare” of the press?
Whatever sparked the split, Bonas’s reluctance to join the British royals does not come as a complete surprise.
Until recently, life as wife to a member of the senior management of The Firm meant dreary duty, glad-handing, ribbon-cutting and boring speeches; frumpy outfits guaranteed not to shock; and always playing second fiddle to one’s emotionally stunted prince.
Nor is the Windsors’ idea of fun for everyone — holidays in draughty Scotland huddled round a one-bar heater, endless pheasant shoots and damp picnics served from the back of a Land Rover.
No wonder Princess Diana — whose first taste of disappointment as a royal bride was her husband reading the musings of Laurens van der Post on a honeymoon that included a lengthy stay at Balmoral — complained that life as a princess was not “all it’s cracked up to be”.
Fast-forward 30-odd years, however, and being married to a prince in 2014 is surely one of the best jobs around. The former Kate Middleton has revolutionised the role.
Yes, duty is a priority — that’s the job she signed up for. But Kate seems to be enjoying every moment of it. Take the recent wildly successful tour of Australia and New Zealand, with shot after shot of her smiling, laughing and teasing her husband, the crowds seduced by her obvious delight at being there.
Whereas Diana Spencer and Sarah Ferguson became distanced from their families on joining the House of Windsor,
Ancient patchwork jackets and Tupperware are for the frugal, older generation; today’s young royals combine duty with glamour and fun
Kate’s closeness to hers has, if anything, strengthened. The Middleton family home in Berkshire, where her son, George, spent the first six weeks of his life, remains a bolt hole for the couple.
Family holidays remain a fixture and Kate and George enjoyed a sunshine break with her mother to Mustique this year. William’s commitment to Carole and Michael Middleton — it was unprecedented for a future heir to spend Christmas not at Sandringham, but with his inlaws, as William did in 2012 — is a part of his marriage that is not negotiable.
And press intrusion is not such an issue now: Diana was stalked by the paparazzi, but not so Kate. Young royals can expect a degree of privacy, certainly in Britain.
Abroad it is different, but any prospective royal wife-to-be can now expect protection. When photographs of Kate sunbathing topless were published in a French magazine in 2012, lawyers acting for the royals sprang into action. The photographer was arrested and the editor is now facing trial.
When it comes to clothes, Kate’s style has evolved to equip her with a perfect working wardrobe, mixing designer and high street in a way that is admired the world over.
Yes, Diana set the bar high, but she was berated in some quarters for her focus on fash- ion. Why couldn’t she be more like the royal sisterhood, who showed little interest in it? Princess Anne preferred jodhpurs and a hunting jacket to a ball gown and heels.
Now we talk about the “Kate effect”, as whatever she wears flies off shelves or causes the internet to crash in a frenzy of buying. Her hair is indeed a crowning glory and she is proud of it, taking her personal hairdresser on tour to Australia for three weeks to ensure not a lock was out of place. Yet no one begrudges her this.
A princess today (well, OK, a duchess) is encouraged to revel in her role — as long as she does so in a seemly fashion— so that she becomes an asset to The Firm on the world stage. We don’t mind that she and William are spending £1.1-million (R19.5million) restoring their Kensington Palace apartment, nor that they enjoyed a second honeymoon in the Maldives earlier this year.
Ancient patchwork jackets and Tupperware are for the frugal, older generation; today’s young royals combine duty with glamour and fun.
This generation of royals — spearheaded by William, Harry and cousin Zara — are so much more in touch with everyday life than their predecessors. They are close to each other; they laugh at each other; they don’t mind (too much) being photographed out and about doing normal things. They have held down proper jobs, too.
As adults, William and Harry have shown themselves to be caring, sympathetic and emotionally sensitive — princes who can connect with ordinary people. And, as a result, royal
It was unprecedented for a future heir to spend Christmas with his in-laws, as William did in 2012
wives and girlfriends can expect a far better deal than their predecessors.
In relishing being royal, Kate has made the role more attractive than ever before. So, for Cressy’s sake, one can only hope that she and Harry, as one wellplaced source suggested, have “paused for a breather” rather than broken up.
There is simply too much fun to be had at the palace — and Kate could do with a partner in crime.