Harry: Sad, isolated & fears for Queen
As the Coronavirus crisis rages on, and Prince Charles battles the illness, Prince Harry is literally further apart from his family than ever. Now isolated in Canada, is he already regretting being unable to help his brother – and his nation?
The news that Prince Charles has been diagnosed with the deadly Coronavirus has come as a huge shock to everyone – and must be particularly worrying for his youngest son, Prince Harry, who is miles away in Canada.
Charles tested positive for the virus last week and, although his symptoms are said to be ‘mild’, he is in isolation at Balmoral. In the best spirit of ‘ keeping calm and carrying on’, he is even continuing to work.
His wife, Camilla, 72, who is also in residence, has tested negative for the bug, which must be a relief due to her age and smoking habit.
Of course , at 71, Charles’ age puts him in the vulnerable category, and has raised fears for the Queen – although Her Majesty, in isolation with Prince Philip at Windsor, is said to be in ‘good health’ and has had no contact with Charles since 12 March, when mother and son saw each other ‘ briefly’. It is not known where Charles contracted the virus, although he did sit next to Prince Albert of Monaco, who has tested positive, at a dinner on 10 March.
The news of Charles’s diagnosis will have come as a shock to Harry, who was already said to be feeling ‘ helpless’ and ‘concerned’ about his father and grandmother.
It was on 9 March that Harry carried out his last official engagement at Westminster Abbey before bowing out of Royal life.
He and the Duchess of Sussex then left the country and landed in Canada, shortly before it closed its borders due to the virus. Now, locked down with Meghan and baby Archie at their Vancouver mansion, the Prince is said to be desperately worried about his family during the pandemic.
It is easy to imagine that, far from his family, Harry will be feeling lonely – as well as sad and regretful about the rift that has taken him across an
ocean at this crucial time for both his family and the nation. Meghan is said to have told a friend: ‘He feels a bit helpless and isolated out in the middle of nowhere, but is grateful we are all together as a family.’ And yet it is understandable that, like all of us, Harry will be feeling the strain of these new, unchartered waters. And of course, this crisis follows straight on from a time that was already turbulent and emotionally charged for the troubled prince, who has been very open about his struggles with mental health. And he is unable to rush to the bedside of his relatives, even if one of them were to become dangerously unwell.
There is also the question of what he is supposed to be doing. At a time when the Royal Family – particularly its younger members in robust good health – are needed more than ever to bolster morale, he has no role or useful function.
He has had to cancel the Invictus Games, and while stranded in Canada, he will be watching Prince William stepping up to the crisis, and appearing every inch a future King.
William was the first Royal to address the nation in a video message, speaking to
‘He feels isolated, but he’s grateful we are all together as a family’
praise the people of the UK and their ‘unique ability to pull together’.
By comparison, Harry’s Instagram messages, updated daily on Sussex Royal, look feeble. And his absence reinforces just how much the Royals could have done with some energetic, younger team players who don’t fall into the vulnerable category.
Moreover, there’s the added pressure of not knowing how long the crisis will last. The uncertainty adds to the strain on a lot of relationships.
Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia, the top divorce lawyer who acted for Charles in his spilt with Diana, has warned the UK’s divorce rate will soar (and let’s face it, it normally does after an ordinary family Christmas, let alone this kind of lockdown).
And while Harry and Meghan are barely out of the honeymoon period, surely any couple would struggle with such dramatic pressure?
At the mansion, Meghan is said, very sensibly, to have instituted a strict hygiene protocol – with ‘everyone in their team’ instructed to wear latex gloves.
Isolated in their grand residence, they are occupying themselves with social media. Harry shared the Queen’s message on Coronavirus on his Sussex Royal Instagram page, and he and Meghan have been issuing daily messages of support, such as ‘Our emotional well-being is challenged every day whether we realise it or not, but our lives are usually filled with distractions.
‘Now with constantly changing Covid coverage, we are all adjusting to this new normal and the feelings that come with it.’
But, their comments have not been universally well received, with one commentator saying: ‘ We the ordinary people don’t need advice from people who live in ivory towers with not a bother in the world and looked after by security to go and get your food and anything else you need. We have to battle with empty shelves and hope and pray we don’t pick up the killer virus while out to get food for our families.’
Harry may definitely be physically safer than most, but is it certain that he will have ‘not a bother’ in the world? Truth be told, he may well be wracked with regret already.