Prince Harry

by Duncan Larcombe

  And the answer came as soon as senior officers started to make noises about the next rung of the ladder Captain Wales was approaching. High-flying officers hoping to extend their Army careers beyond the rank of captain cannot be promoted to major until they have successfully got through Staff College. Unlike Sandhurst, the focus of this course is almost entirely academic, with students sitting through lectures on politics, military strategy and history. There is very little time spent out in the field and even when the recruits do spend time away from the lecture theatres, their training is more about the strategic demands of commanding men than the hands-on skills of basic soldiering.

  By his own admission, Harry was not academically minded, and the next step in his Army career would therefore present the toughest challenge to date. And even if he were able to prove himself wrong and get through the classroom-based Staff College course, it would still mark a turning point for the Royal. Once he achieved the rank of major, Harry would be expected to lead men from the background, proving the age-old saying that the higher your rank, the further you are from the front line.

  Colonel Richard Kemp, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, explained that there was nothing unusual about Harry’s dilemma about whether to leave or push on to Staff College. He said: ‘All officers go through a process of making a decision whether to leave the Army or whether to continue trying to climb the ranks. By the time officers reach the landmark of nine to ten years in the Army they have a difficult decision to make. And once you have reached that level of seniority you know that from then on you will spend a lot more time behind a desk planning and preparing rather than doing the job Prince Harry entered the Army to do.

  ‘It is not for everyone, and many officers decide that around the age of thirty is the right time for them to leave and pursue a new career. The question they inevitably have to ask themselves is “Do I really want to do this for the next three years or is it time for a new direction?”At Staff College there is some practical soldiering but most of the time is spent in the classroom studying conflicts and examining strategy and operations. It is a demanding and academic course that simply doesn’t suit everyone.’

  The people around Harry may have felt he was better off staying in the military than drawing a line under the experience. But in his heart Harry knew it was time for him to go. The role he had forged towards the end of his ten-year stint was increasingly seeing him focus on the ceremonial and Royal aspects of the job. As the deadline for a decision approached he began to wake up to the reality that his long-term goals would actually be better served away from the Army.

  The first Invictus Games were an incredible success, not least because of the speed with which they had come into being. But in truth Harry knew that he was in an unusual position, where he could leave the Army but still commit his time to drawing attention to the issue of wounded heroes.

  In reaching the decision, there is no doubt Harry reflected on the experiences he had had as a soldier. One of the most powerful of these had been his return from the first tour when he came face-to-face with the costs of the conflict. Royal Marine Ben McBean had been unconscious on the flight back to RAF Brize Norton in April 2008. His injuries were so serious that he had no idea at the time that he was joined on the flight back by the prince. But when Harry faced the media after his first deployment was cut short, he felt uncomfortable about being hailed a hero after sharing the flight that day with two seriously wounded men. He made a commitment to do everything he could to ensure the sacrifices of men like McBean would never be forgotten. And now, with the withdrawal of British forces from Afghanistan in full swing, he knew that he could do this best without being tied to a military career.

  When the palace finally announced Harry’s decision in March 2015, he released a statement in which he reflected on his time in the Army. ‘After a decade of service, moving on from the Army has been a really tough decision. I consider myself incredibly lucky to have had the chance to do some very challenging jobs and have met many fantastic people in the process. From learning the hard way to stay onside with my Colour Sergeant at Sandhurst, to the incredible people I served with during two tours in Afghanistan – the experiences I have had over the last ten years will stay with me for the rest of my life. For that I will always be hugely grateful.

  ‘Inevitably most good things come to an end and I am at a crossroads in my military career. Luckily for me, I will continue to wear the uniform and mix with fellow servicemen and women for the rest of my life.’ He went on to say: ‘I am considering the options for the future and I am really excited about the possibilities … so while I am finishing one part of my life, I am getting straight into a new chapter. I am really looking forward to it.’

  There are those who doubt the wisdom of Harry’s decision to leave the Army, and think he may regret it, but this is to misunderstand his reasoning. By the time he approached his tenth year as a soldier he had achieved what he had always set out to do. He had proved himself as a respected and effective officer, leading men into battle and serving his country with distinction. The challenge of making the grade as an elite attack helicopter pilot was a huge bonus for a Royal who had always doubted his academic abilities. But he knew deep down that there was very little prospect of him returning to the front line. From the British point of view the Afghan War was over, and the prospect of spending the rest of his career behind a desk or training others never really appealed to the prince.

  During the build-up to his second tour, Harry had spent at least four years working flat out, training to become an Apache pilot and preparing for a return to Afghanistan. This inevitably meant he could not commit as much time to his charities as he would have liked. By the time he returned from the war his determination to dedicate more time to his good causes was obvious.

  Colonel Kemp, while accepting that Harry’s decision was a loss to the Army, argues it was actually an inspired and unselfish move. He told me: ‘The contribution Harry has made to the military since leaving the Army is in fact far greater than if he had continued with his military career. Since he left Harry has raised the profile of wounded servicemen and women in a far wider way. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq may now be over but for those who were injured in the conflict or for families who lost loved ones, the battle still goes on.

  ‘By serving his country in Afghanistan, he is extremely widely admired within the Armed Forces. He is seen as a good and decent officer who went to war despite the fact his Royal status meant he could have easily ducked out of serving. Throughout his military career he fought a battle behind the scenes to get to fight for his country, and even those who may not be the biggest fans of the Royal family in the military admire him for that. It was a sensible decision leaving the Army when he did because he has become a far greater asset to the military than he could ever have been as a major doing a desk job.’

  Colonel Kemp’s assessment of Harry’s decision to leave the Army sheds light on what the prince was feeling after returning from his second stint in the front line. Yes, he was a trained officer and Apache pilot, but ironically, leaving the Army when he did would allow him to convert his experience into positive results for the forces. He had, in effect, been there, got the T-shirt, and could now play a vital role in ensuring that the public’s awareness and support for the military continued long after the troops returned from the conflict zone. Colonel Kemp was quite right in suggesting that quitting the Army would in fact free him up to promote his former employers and colleagues, and the Invictus Games legacy is just one example of that.

  But of course the military is not the only worthy cause that he would now be able to help. His decision to pursue a more active life as a working Royal would see the other causes close to his heart receive a welcome boost. After his ‘retirement’ Harry’s palace advisers released details of the causes he would now be focusing on, but they still insisted this did not mean he was embarking on life as a full-time working Royal.

  Fol
lowing his mother’s legacy, Harry would continue to support his Sentebale charity as well as making a commitment to the Halo Trust – the landmine clearing charity that was famously backed by Princess Diana. And in the late summer of 2014, he would spend time in South Africa working alongside the rangers of the Kruger National Park in their battle against poachers. All these organizations were no doubt thrilled to be gaining the attention of Britain’s most talked about Royal and thus the media spotlight.

  But there were fears among the men in grey suits about how this change of direction would impact on the prince’s image. Would the devil make work for his idle hands and lead to more of the kind of criticism he suffered before starting Sandhurst? But Harry was much older now and far more mature. Many of his closest friends – and ex girlfriends – were settling down to married life, lowering the likelihood the prince would resume his partying ways. At thirty-one, pictures of Harry leaving nightclubs in the small hours would inevitably lead to questions about what direction he was heading.

  Any such fears have proved unfounded, and in the months and years that have followed his departure from a full-time job, Harry has kept his nose clean and avoided any high-profile slip-ups. But there was of course one nagging question that kept rearing its head whenever the prince faced the cameras for set-piece interviews. When would he settle down and find someone to share his life with?

  The relationship with Cressy had fizzled out long before Harry’s last day at work as a soldier. He was now both unemployed and unattached for the first time since he left school. In 2015 he was voted the world’s most eligible bachelor in a poll about famous men yet to find love. It seemed ironic that someone with so many female admirers was finding it so difficult to find a match. This issue was famously raised by Harry in the course of an interview with Sky TV during a visit to New Zealand in May 2015.

  Asked first how difficult a decision it was for him to leave the Army, he said: ‘It is a crossroads. I’m in the same position now as most people in my year group or my rank would be in, and most of the guys I joined with have left for numerous reasons. It is the case that if we move on then more responsibilities come, and I suppose with wanting to take on slightly more of this [Royal] role I don’t really feel as though I would be in the right position to take on the careers of more soldiers and to take on the responsibility of continuing to fly, for instance.

  ‘So it is a balance, and I’ve been trying to get the balance right over the past six months to a year before I finished and it was getting hard. Inevitably what happens as you climb the ranks is that you will do more of a desk job. A lot of guys that get to my age leave, and that is partly because a lot of guys join for the outside, for the excitement of running around in the bush with the soldiers. And then there is a point where you have to take the next step and go to a desk and do Staff College and become a major and so on.

  ‘With all that comes greater responsibilities and a lot of your time, which if I’m doing this [Royal duties] kind of stuff, doesn’t work. It doesn’t sit comfortably with me knowing that I’m off doing something while others are still at work looking after my soldiers. I don’t want people to cover for me – that was never going to work.’

  Harry’s words confirmed the thought process behind his decision, but he remained coy when he was then asked how he planned to balance more Royal work with something new. ‘There are a few things on the shortlist,’ he said, ‘but I don’t want to speculate. But as long as people back home know they can trust me in making the right decision and whatever it is, hopefully it will be something that means I can still give something back, I suppose. This part of the job [Royal work] is fantastic but both William and I feel we need to have a wage, we need to work with normal people to keep ourselves sane and also to keep us ticking along.

  ‘Surely in the future if we want to make a big contribution or a valid contribution and be taken seriously then we need to work alongside other people. But as I said, if people can genuinely trust that I’m going to make the right decision and that whatever it is hopefully I will make them proud, then so be it. I’ve got to a stage now in my life where I’m very happy. I’ve done ten years in the services, there is part of me of course that would love to carry on doing that, but there needs to come a decision about responsibilities in this role, therefore I need to find something that will have an even balance.’

  In his interview Harry was setting down a marker to reassure senior members of his family that leaving the Army was the right decision. Both Prince Charles and the Queen had discussed the future with him, and sources revealed they were not entirely convinced he should leave.

  One senior palace source said: ‘At first the Prince of Wales in particular raised concerns about his youngest son leaving the career he loved and was so good at. It was his view that the Army gave Harry both a focus and a purpose. But in the end the senior Royals agreed that it was a decision only Harry could make. In his interview during the tour of New Zealand Harry was trying to reassure his father and grandmother that he would not let them down, that leaving the Army was for the best.’

  The source said the concerns of senior Royals were most likely rooted in the experience of Prince Andrew, who had served with distinction as a helicopter pilot during the Falklands War. ‘Prince Andrew was a very popular member of the “Firm”, but when he left the Navy he struggled for many years to find a role that was suitable. He became a trade envoy, but that was the start of a string of controversies over the friends he made and his reputation with the public was damaged beyond repair.’

  The interview coincided with the birth of Harry’s niece, Princess Charlotte, and the questioning, perhaps inevitably, turned to when he might want to settle down and have children of his own.

  Harry, looking a little awkward as he answered, said: ‘There come times when you think now is the time to settle down, or now is not, whatever way it is, but I don’t think you can force these things, it will happen when it’s going to happen. Of course I would love to have kids right now, but there’s a process that one has to go through and tours like this are great fun. Hopefully I’m doing all right by myself. It would be great to have someone else next to me to share the pressure, but you know, the time will come and whatever happens, happens.’

  CHAPTER 23

  MEGHAN

  ‘Women are like teabags – they don’t realize how strong they are until they’re in hot water,’ read the famous quote from former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. When these words were inked into that year’s school book, no one at Immaculate Heart High could have ever foreseen their later significance. Above, on the same page, was glued the image of one of the more popular and outspoken students at the private Catholic school in central Los Angeles.

  Twenty years after those eerily prophetic words appeared next to the photograph, the front pages of newspapers all over the world would be carrying pictures of the same person. This time they would show the pretty brunette in a black lace bra, pinned against a filing cabinet and enjoying a passionate embrace with a male colleague. A gift from the tabloid gods that would instantly make her one of the most talked-about women on the planet. It was official, Prince Harry was indeed dating the stunning star of steamy American TV show Suits, and now the world was desperate to find out more. There was no getting away from it, actress and socialite Meghan Markle was finally in hot water.

  It is fair to say the 35-year-old divorcee’s arrival into the global limelight was more of an explosion than a gentle induction. Britain’s Sunday Express newspaper carried the scoop after spotting that she and Harry were intriguingly wearing the same friendship bands. Their source had been tipped off about the relationship and this gave them the confidence to put two and two together and run the story.

  As the palace stayed tight-lipped and refused to comment, the papers could not hide their excitement as they published grabs of Meghan’s on-screen sex scenes with co-star Patrick J. Adams. The tsunami of information that followed was – even by Royal standards –
unprecedented, which was hardly surprising in the circumstances.

  Prince Harry had been single for nearly two years and as he focused on his Royal work in that time the issue of his eligible status was a constant theme in the media. ‘When will Harry find love?’, ‘The lonely prince’ and ‘Harry’s quest to find Princess Right’ were just a few of the headlines from the glossy magazines whose readers were so obsessed by the popular Royal. Other comment pieces pointed to the fact that Harry’s inner circle of school and childhood chums had one by one settled down and got married. Without his single pals to party with, surely – they insisted – it was time Harry followed suit. A year before details of his latest relationship hit the headlines, there were front-page stories about a possible rekindling of the romance with Chelsy Davy, but this never materialized.

  Whether he liked it or not, Harry’s popularity with the public fuelled the interest in his love life – even though it had for some time been non-existent.

  Another contributing factor was the marriage of William and Kate and the subsequent arrival of their two children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Their births had lowered Harry’s status from third in line to the British throne to fourth and fifth respectively. No longer was he saddled with the tag of ‘spare to the heir’, a rather unkind title which Harry had always hated.

  Once his nephew and niece were born, he was freed from the direct line to the throne which would have meant him becoming king in the unlikely event of something terrible happening to his brother William. With this new – albeit very young – generation of Royals on the scene, Harry’s position had dramatically changed.