This weekend laid bare Harry’s impossible choice

Oh I love Kate. So tall. Think she’s had work done? And those children are so gorgeous…the headpieces…wow. What did you think of Harry? Did you read the book? Didn’t have to. I’d read all the headlines. Cheek of him turning up at all..

We may not be supposed to care as much as we do, but some of us were glued to the coronation of King Charles this weekend. These were some of the conversations that I heard going on around me. And it’s fair to say that poor old Harry doesn’t fare well in the court of public opinion.

The problem is that…well, the problems are so many that presumably they go back generations, but one of the main issues is that attention-grabbing headlines were leaked from his book ahead of publication.

Media

It was a bad PR move. Because if you had just picked up the book and read it cold, your heart would have gone out to the twelve-year-old boy who’d lost his mother and who was shipped off the boarding school without as much as a hug.

As someone with a similarly aged son, I can’t imagine how unbearable that must have been for him. It shook his already small world and he hadn’t anyone to guide him through that emotionally.

Jaunty

Once again, the headlines this weekend were unfavourable about Diana’s second born son. He was too ‘jaunty’ walking into the church. He wore a French designer suit rather than a UK one. The cheek of him for turning up at all. He didn’t seem contrite enough according to one article.

Harry, like many children who lose their mother at a young age, sought out a strong woman in Meghan. And people don’t like strong women. People really don’t like strong women who speak their minds. But love her or hate her, Meghan was always going to be judged against her sister-in-law. And as an outsider.

It blew up for the couple. They decided to tell their truth and the stiff upper lip of many in Royal circles – media included, finally quivered. There’s a lot that can’t be unsaid but I think Harry did the right thing by turning up at all.

Frosty

The statement at the time read: “Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that The Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on May 6. The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.”

Had he stayed for the entire celebration and played happy families, he wouldn’t have been true to himself or his wife. There’s a place for that and it isn’t at an event like the coronation. I’d argue that what Harry did was the classy thing to do – blame the birthday party, show face for the main event, depart discreetly. Meghan arriving in to that situation would have invited scrutiny and overshadowed the entire event.

Harry and Meghan’s unofficial spokesperson Omid Scobie explained the situation to This Morning. 

“Obviously, this is the first time he sees his family face-to-face since the release of Spare but I don’t think people know that there has been somewhat regular […] conversation between him and his father since the release of that book,“Now, have they discussed the details and the points that he wanted to go into? From what I hear, no.

But he has had contact with his dad and made it clear that he wanted to be part of the coronation  and I think that was really well received as well. So it’s interesting to now compare that to where William and Harry are, which is still in the exact same place that we last saw them. There has been minimal contact since the Queen’s funeral.”

Snookered

Who knows how this will play out, but we all know that in every princess story there has to be a villain. Harry hadn’t always played things right, but he hadn’t claimed to be perfect. His is an impossible choice – stay loyal to a system that treated him and his wife so poorly, or step away and point it out.

In chess a player is said to be “in zugzwang” when any legal move will worsen their position. In other words, any move will result in failure.

Arguably for Harry, this weekend’s move was the only one he could make. And predictably, he’s still being hung out to dry.

 

Image via Getty