Daily Star Sunday

Forgetful Harry is in La La Land

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Write to me c/o Daily Star Sunday, One Canada Square, London E14 5AP

PRINCE Harry said he was “taking a leap of faith” when he left the UK and needed to find space for the next chapter of his family’s life.

And having also exited Canada with the sort of speed that wouldn’t disgrace Usain Bolt, he is now to be found in a £14million Beverly Hills mansion.

Now, sitting in self-imposed exile just five miles from the Hollywood sign, Harry chooses to give us all a lecture about what he sees as the problem of racism at the core of the Commonweal­th.

In an online discussion with young leaders from the organisati­on, he said: “There is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledg­e the past.”

If you’d care to brush up on your history, Harry, you would learn the Commonweal­th was only founded in 1949 and is an entirely voluntary organisati­on.

The vast majority of leaders who attend the conference­s are black or Asian and the growing membership is currently at the highest ever level of 54. That’s hardly the oppressive days of Empire or the Raj, is it Harry? And if he finds the whole idea so repugnant, how come just two years ago he was happy to take on the role of the Queen’s Commonweal­th Ambassador?

A month after that, his bride-to-be’s veil was embroidere­d with flowers from every single nation in the grouping. And he and

Meghan also chose an event commemorat­ing the Commonweal­th for their final official engagement in Britain in March, just days before the lockdown.

The pair seemed happy enough to be at Westminste­r Abbey for the Commonweal­th Service attended by the Queen.

But last week Harry talked of there being “much more still to do” about admitting the errors of the past.

This juvenile idea the Empire was all bad has never worked for me. Admittedly, there were egregious aspects to it, but anything that spans the entire globe is going to have problems – just look at YouTube.

The kinship and unity was a plus and one of the founding mission statements was the need to bring “a touch of healing”.

After the history comes the family aspect. The Queen has taken on – and vanquished – at least two Prime Ministers who sought to denigrate the Commonweal­th.

During the Sixties, Harold Wilson’s attempt to relegate the post of secretaryg­eneral was instantly slapped down.

And in 1973 she defied Edward Heath and attended a summit in Ottawa after he tried to block the trip.

It’s ironic, isn’t it, that given two-thirds of the Commonweal­th population is under the age of 30, it’s the 94-year-old Queen who gets its importance and reality

rather than her 35-year-old grandson.

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