opinion
After exiting the royal family
Prince Harry sacrificed everything for inner peace – and yet didn’t find it
Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan at the “Invictus Games 2022” in The Hague
© i Images / Imago Images
Prince Harry is back in public! But in a new interview, the Queen’s grandson reveals he hasn’t found peace two years after splitting from British royalty.
The “Invictus Games” are his baby. After leaving the royal family with his wife Meghan in 2020, Prince Harry has to give up many honorary degrees in the military and his patronage. But nobody can take the “Invictus Games” from him. Harry founded the sporting event for wounded soldiers almost ten years ago and hosted it for the first time in 2014. Now he’s back and obviously feels right at home among the veterans. But he found no peace.
It’s like a triumphal procession when Prince Harry visits the sports facilities and athletes of the “Invictus Games” in The Hague these days. Queen Elizabeth II’s grandson was celebrated enthusiastically at the opening event on the Easter weekend. Harry Wales, as the prince called himself when he was in the army, is one of the veterans. He has twice been on foreign assignments in Afghanistan. He knows the fears, hopes, mental and physical scars of those who come back. This can be felt in every conversation during the “Invictus Games”.
Prince Harry plays the media game – only to condemn them afterwards
On the fringes of the event, the 37-year-old gave an interview to the US broadcaster NBC. In it he talks about his life in his new home in California. Yes, for the British prince, Montecito feels like home. He is asked whether it is strange to say that. “No, but I’m sure something will be done about it,” Harry replies with a shrug.
After a life of constant observation, he knows exactly how the media rabbit runs. And yet Harry regularly makes headlines – only to dam them later. He needs to know that not only that comment, but also his admission to the Queen that he makes sure she is surrounded by the right people will be torn apart. After all, the prince has been living abroad for two years and has only returned to his family twice. So how does he plan to ensure the Queen is protected and well advised? Via video call?
The Sussexes and the Quest for Peace
While Harry – and Meghan – do everything they can to maintain the appearance of bliss, it’s hard to believe. He had announced in 2020 that he wanted to find peace for himself and his family. But when the NBC presenter asks him if he found him, Harry hesitates at first. “I don’t know how many people feel really peaceful,” he then admits. “Sometimes I feel the peace very much,” but then he feels the helplessness of all the things that were going on in the world right now. “Over the past few years, I’ve found that helping others helps me heal.”
Who doesn’t immediately think of Princess Diana when hearing these words?
And in fact, the interview also mentions Harry’s deceased mother. The prince reveals that he has felt Diana’s presence constantly, especially in the past two years. “She did her part for my brother and now she’s helping me,” Harry said. “I feel her presence in almost everything I do now. More than ever.” During her performances, Meghan wears jewelry from her mother-in-law, whom she never met. Harry reveals he tells little son Archie about his late grandma. Diana is omnipresent. And with it the search for peace outside of the royal house.
The Duke of Sussex no longer speaks about his brother. In the British media it is said that the brothers’ relationship has broken down. If not, it’s all the more questionable why Prince William and his family are abroad at the very time when Harry and Meghan arrived in England late last week. Prince Charles only met Harry for a quarter of an hour. After they haven’t seen each other for nine months. The memory of the Sussexes’ fairytale wedding, when Charles Meghan led part of the way to the altar in 2018, has almost completely faded. The rift between the royal family and the ducal couple as deep as a crater.
Harry and Meghan seem in love with The Hague like on the first day. They beam at each other, hold hands, he calls them “my love” on stage – and yet they don’t give the impression that they’ve found what they left the monarchy for.