A lengthy piece recently published in Vanity Fair has shed new light on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to move to the United States. According to several sources interviewed, it's likely that the move symbolizes rebirth to Harry in a way that the US reportedly did for his mother, Princess Diana.
In the piece, author Hadley Hall Meares recalls Harry's "democratic roots" that were "instilled in him by his mother, Princess Diana." While it's well known that Princess Diana hailed from wealthy means herself, she put a lot of effort into raising both of her sons differently.
Royal author Leslie Carroll notes that Princess Diana began fighting this fight early on: "Diana won her argument with Charles about sending their sons to school with other children from the start, rather than having them tutored in the palace, as Charles was before he was shipped off to a boarding school — an experience he despised yet he seemed to think would be appropriate to repeat it with his own boys."
Princess Diana also instilled a sense of normalcy in her young sons through other means. Carroll adds, "Diana gave them pocket change so they would understand how ‘normal’ people lived, because Charles never gave the boys money and didn’t understand why they needed it. Diana may have had many faults, but a lack of empathy wasn’t one of them. She wanted her sons to grow up knowing what the real world was like."
As many royal watchers know, this even extended to the activities the young princes enjoyed. Royal author Christopher Andersen explains, "That meant trips to McDonald’s, amusement parks, go-kart tracks, and the movies — where, in sharp contrast to their royal cousins, she made the princes wait in line with everybody else."
Leslie Carroll also reflects on what Harry was like during those times, noting that it seems he enjoyed living outside the royal bubble more than William: "In hindsight, Harry, more so than William … seems to have internalized the democratic nature, and the excitement, of being able to mingle with everyone else."
Christopher Andersen adds that Harry was also friends with the people who worked in his home. "Even as a small child, he was eager to rake leaves with the palace groundskeepers or help out in the kitchen," Andersen says. "Harry was always the hands-down favorite of the royal worker bees — the bodyguards, butlers, footmen, maids, cooks, and nannies who keep the whole thing running."
Harry himself has even confirmed that his mother played a huge role in shaping him. He once told author Angela Levin, "My mother took a huge part in showing me an ordinary life, including taking me and my brother to see homeless people. Thank goodness I’m not completely cut off from reality."
This applied to Harry's time in the military, where he made sure to really get involved with his fellow soldiers instead of keeping to himself. In the docuseries The Me You Can't See, Harry says, "The happiest times in my life were the 10 years in the army. Without question. Because I got to wear the same uniform as everybody else. I had to do all the same training as everybody else. I started from the bottom up like everybody else."
Fast-forward several years, and it's not really a surprise that Harry and Meghan were looking for a way to escape the increasingly scary and intense world they were living in. Just like his mother before him, Harry began to strongly consider the US as a potential home.
Leslie Carroll explains, "Even when Harry was a boy, America came to symbolize a concept of freedom to be oneself — whether actually true or not — that he didn’t have as a member of the British royal family. Britain’s social hierarchy has always been class-based, rather than a meritocracy, and Harry has expressed discomfort with the concept that solely because of his birthright he’s a notch, or several, ‘more than’ those he interacts with, goes to school with, or works alongside."
Carroll continues, "Harry had wanted to earn a wage and mix with ordinary people before he became a full-time working royal. Who expects him to become a hermit after leaving the U.K. for California? When was that ever part of the equation? In America he can continue to focus on, and bring awareness to, the same philanthropic and charitable interests that he did in the U.K. In fact, now that he is no longer a working senior royal, he is also no longer financially constrained."
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