Im going to put it out there - I have the upmost sympathy for Prince Harry.

I am unable to comprehend the whole vendetta against Harry and Meghan. It is not a bandwagon I wish to join.

It seems that some people need to have someone to either hate or worship. Diana = good; Harry = bad. Logic and facts do not come into it. They are just people like you and I.

I used to like Prince Harry but not anymore. Such a shame he married a toxic American woman from a very dysfunctional family and she seems to bring out the worst in him. I don’t believe at all that the Royal Family is racist.

I have accompanied my husband to three charity events at the Palaces - two garden parties and the last one was a Christmas Party at St James Palace.

What surprised me most at St James Place was to go to the ladies room, you have to pass through a private room , there were black and white pictures of the Queen and Prince Philip on the desk, pictures of William and Kate on the wall and other family members, yet no one was guarding the room.

people do feel strongly, not just because they are being horrible about a celebrity whom they don't personally know.
we are a constitutional monarchy, and although in some ways illogical and old-fashioned, it has helped keep this country stable politically for centuries. since 1688 at least.
we have avoided many of the bloody revolutions of other countries.
we are a temperate climate and mild in our politics.
on the whole. which why recent shenanigans are so shocking.
so if harry pours scorn on his own family, that could be seen as destabilising the monarchy, which is the unchanging part of our constitution. so it does or could affect us all.
at least i think it legitimate that we have an opinion on it and him.

Just another upper class twit really, washing his dirty linen in public. Hopefully now he is a parent he might grow up a bit. Don't fancy his chances as he will be surrounded by loud mouthed sychophants.

Whitewavemark2

There is a saying isn’t there.

“ until you walk a mile in someone’s shoes”…………………..

Yes, and the you’re a mile away from them, and you’ve got their shoes!

(Billy Connolly, I think)

nanna8 yes, I agree with you.
No beating around the bush there!

But if people weren't willing to gawp at photos of him and his family and read endless gossip about them this wouldn’t be a story . Yes, other people have experienced loss, but they didn’t get the whole media and eager public attention for no reason other than their parentage. The RF are a dysfunctional family themselves, yet the are viewed as semi divine beings by some who follow their every move and believe they know their inner most motivations and thoughts. Good luck to H and M and if the gullible are willing to pay £££s to lap up their books or films or whatever - why not.

What I can't understand is how Harry could use his allegedly adored dead mother to make millions of dollars knowing that people will lap it up, gossip about her probably in a salacious way that trashes her reputation, deeply upset his father, hurts beyond belief his again, allegedly, adored elderly grandmother, and infuriate his once loved brother. For me that behaviour towards my own family would be inconceivable. While I realise he's not very academic and has little with which to earn a living , unlike William, nevertheless to stoop to these depths is vile. I don't think he was ever fond of any of them including his mother, else how could you do this? I know I couldn't.

nobody made the prince’s walk behind their mother’s coffin despite what PH would have us believe

They were 12 and 15 years old, bereaved in a sudden and shocking way. Informed consent ? Children go along with advice from the adults in this kind of situation. The adults did what they thought best, presumably what the thought was expected of them.
Prince Harry feels they got it wrong. He’s shown signs of ptsd for a long time. I’d be surprised if the walk isn’t contributing to the trauma he continues to live with.

If they hadn't walked behind the coffin, Prince Harry would now be saying that they weren't allowed to and that decision has affected him mentally all his life. The RF couldn't win on that one. Complaining about this is a bit rich coming from someone who has been willing to literally sell his dead mother for millions of dollars, never mind the consequences to her reputation particularly as she and the family you so despise have made sure you have more personal money than most of us see in a lifetime, and yet you must have more and more , why?!

Meghan changed him. And I don’t believe it’s acceptable to publicly trash your family, especially for money.

Pammie1

Sorry I don’t agree. Both Harry and William were affected by their mothers’ death and while Harry has behaved very selfishly in my view, William has always put his royal heritage and duties first.

I don’t doubt that the death of his mother and the controversy surrounding it has had its’ effects on Harry but that doesn’t excuse his lack of respect for his heritage or the complete disregard he’s shown for his family. Harry and Meghan said they were departing for America because they wanted a life out of the limelight and they’ve done nothing but court attention and controversy ever since - about to do it again with the book Harry’s written. No, I have no sympathy whatsoever.

I totally agree with you. He may have his issues to deal with but he has the money to get the best treatment and would not have to wait for years like many others have to do. He is besotted with her but that's no excuse for treating his own family the way he has.

They cannot go away quietly - the media hounds them endlessly. They are not like any other family where there is a rift - they are under siege all the time. Who could blame them for wanting to put their side of the story?

I admire Harry for putting a distance between himself and his family. He made a choice that he did not want to be a part of it all, and he found a partner who understood his feelings and helped to facilitate his new future.

There are many families who have been touched by estrangement - we have a thread on Gransnet about it - but they are able to settle their differences (or not) between themselves without news-hungry media people at their door.

Just because they have money - Harry inherited his and Meghan earned hers - does not mean they are any different from the rest of us and they feel pain and sadness just as we do.

My view is that we should show a little compassion and understanding to these fellow human beings.

they should show a little compassion and understanding too

but they are able to settle their differences (or not) between themselves without news-hungry media people at their door.

And so could Harry instead of going on Oprah.

And writing books. The statement that one won't be published until after the Queen dies is chilling.

Our mum died when my youngest sister was 14 and my other sister 16. We had an absentee, feckless father. I was only 23 myself but tried to support my sisters.
Of course you can't compare the two. Obviously my sisters didn't have the full force of the media watching their every move and having pictures and stories of their mother thrust in their faces constantly.
However, my sisters, especially the youngest, were always known as 'the one whose mum died' and pointed at and whispered about at school.
It was awful for the princes but, as someone says upthread, the Royal Family had the money, and access to help for those boys should they choose to take advantage of it. We had to struggle on alone.

As I said: Who could blame them for wanting to put their side of the story? - a negative side of the story is being peddled and latched on to all the time; it is reasonable that they might want to reply, whether in a book or on a TV show. I do not feel I need to blame Harry for wanting to take opportunities to set the record straight as he sees it.

If any one of us were being publicly vilified in our locality and we felt that this was unjustified, would we just lie back and let it multiply? - I think not.

Anniebach - he may feel that his family have shown him little compassion and understanding. When there is a family rift people do get hurt on both sides - that is sadly inevitable. How can we expect him to sit quietly when he too has been deeply hurt?

He has been brought up in a very distorted way, not just because of the death of his mother, but because he is part of a dysfunctional family that is totally unique - and clearly a burden to him. He has the right to choose to try and put it behind him.

William gets applauded for how he has dealt with all this, but his experiences as someone with a different personality and in a different position in the family are his own. Harry's are his own. We all have to find ways of making the best of the hand we are dealt.

I do not think Harry is perfect (nor William) but neither do I think he is the evil person that he is painted to be. He is simply a flawed human being, as we all are.

I do not feel I need to blame Harry for wanting to take opportunities to set the record straight as he sees it.

But Luckygirl what about all the lies he and Meghan told to Oprah? All those things that were disproved afterwards? Do you call that "setting the record straight"?

And I disagree that Harry is painted as "evil". That's a huge exaggeration. But I do think, looking at his behaviour and what he has said, that he's unkind and spiteful.

A flawed human being with a global platform can heap misery on those who may not deserve it.

Well we've all got our own opinions and that's fine, but to say his family showed him no compassion over the years is clearly ridiculous . Harry had the best of everything,no one ever said NO to him,his grandmother, father and brother loved him, his mother worried about him as he could be a bit wild. I think the RF did their very best by both those young boys, and they certainly did their very best to welcome and help Meghan, forlornly as it turned out, only to have it all thrown back in their faces with bitterness, venom and lies. Now another book apparently this time the complete truth! The others obviously
weren't. Really horrible.

Smileless2012

"He may or may not be damaged but he's certainly vindictive" yes he is isn't he merlotgran.

I agree with merlotgran and smileless. I think he’s a nasty piece of work and as Josieann says, he’s not doing himself any favours.

One of my son’s friends at school lost his mother at the age of fifteen. She committed suicide using alcohol and tablets. She went to a public toilet to do it so that her three young sons wouldn’t be the ones to find her. Those young men are successful members of society. They are not trying to make millions from the sale of a book detailing their life and their mother’s death.

Harry doesn’t know what normal life is like. It’s unfortunate that he found Meghan as someone a bit more grounded may have helped him deal with his life more successfully, without the constant need to be in the limelight and the constant need to regurgitate the death of his mother.

I agree Jaberwok.

Luckgirl the very opposite to his family have shown him little compassion, he was spoilt and pampered