The man, and his family, who would really rather not be king
But royals will do it out of sense of duty, says Prince Harry.
Prince Harry, who is fifth in line to the British throne, has said he did not think anyone in the royal family wants to be king or queen, but that the family of Queen Elizabeth II would carry on the succession out of a sense of duty.
“We’re involved in modernizing the British monarchy,” the prince, 32, told Newsweek in an interview published online Wednesday.
“We are not doing this for ourselves but for the greater good of the people,” he said. “Is there any one of the royal family who wants to be king or queen? I don’t think so, but we will carry out our duties at the right time.”
The prince also said that his personal priority was to lead an “ordinary” life.
He credited his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, with inspiring him to do so.
“My mother took a huge part in showing me an ordinary life, including taking me and my brother to see homeless people,” Harry was quoted as saying, referring to his elder brother, Prince William. “Thank goodness I’m not completely cut off from reality. People would be amazed by the ordinary life William and I live.”
“I do my own shopping. Sometimes, when I come away from the meat counter in my local supermarket, I worry someone will snap me with their phone,” he added. “But I am determined to have a relatively normal life, and if I am lucky enough to have children, they can have one, too. Even if I was king, I would do my own shopping.”
Asked if he thought too much “ordinary” might make the royal family too accessible and take away its mystery, the prince said: “It’s a tricky balancing act. We don’t want to dilute the magic.”
His remarks were his latest to indicate a shift within the British monarchy toward greater openness, led by a younger generation. In a podcast released in April, Harry shared rare details of the private life of a member of the royal family when he spoke of suffering emotionally for years after the death of his mother before finally getting help.
He has also denounced, in an unusual statement issued through his spokesman last November, the “racial undertones” of British news coverage and social media harassment of his girlfriend, American actress Meghan Markle, whose mother is black and whose father is white.
The monarchy and the costs of supporting it have often been the subject of scrutiny. Harry’s remarks in Newsweek renewed discussion on social media about whether the institution was outdated.
“Prince Harry wants us to see him as an ordinary chap, who does his own shopping — but he is not,” wrote James Moore, a columnist, in the Independent. “It is true that he was exposed to the darker side of life in Britain while growing up, but he will never know the feeling of wondering whether he has enough money to pay for that shopping at the till.
“That said, a gilded cage is still a cage, and escape is next to impossible,” Moore wrote.
‘Even if I was king, I would do my own shopping.’ Prince Harry On living an ‘ordinary’ life