Not long before his emotional reunion with Tiggy, Harry had been approached by a clearly upset Princess Beatrice. Her father had returned to Royal Lodge the previous evening in what she described as ‘a filthy temper’ and had begun ‘throwing things around’ saying his elder brother was treating him like a member of staff. One close to the young Princess says that during a tempestuous meeting Charles had told Andrew in no uncertain terms that he had to clean his act up and also to stop wasting public money. Charles had already incensed Andrew by withdrawing expensive 24-hour police protection from Beatrice and Eugenie on their nights out. ‘What about when they are on official engagements?’ Andrew had demanded. ‘What official engagements?’ Charles replied. ‘My mother, my father, my sons and I can cope with those perfectly adequately.’
‘For God’s sake,’ Andrew ranted, ‘he’s treating me like I’m Prince Michael rather than the monarch’s second son.’
Alas, Harry had to tell his cousin there was little he could do to help. Acutely aware of the antipathy between his father and uncle, he was reluctant to get involved in family politics and in any event he knew his father was preparing for the day when he would take over the kingdom and was determined there should be no more scandal in the House of Windsor.
Beatrice got a similar response – although more gently put – when she went to William to see if he could help.
As for Andrew cleaning his act up, Charles had reminded his brother of the reports he had received some years earlier of his dubious activities in New York with some extremely rich friends: the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and party girl Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the late, crooked media tycoon, Robert Maxwell. He had received information, not from the loyal (to their charge) royal protection officers, but via the American ambassador who had received a worrying report from a branch of the US secret service that was monitoring Epstein. Charles knew that Prince Edward was familiar with a New York socialite who had previously been a leading figure in the British music industry, and asked him to use the important contact.
Edward did as Charles asked and called his friend, saying that the family were anxious to know what their brother was up to mixing in such company. The heir to the throne was far from pleased with the response Edward conveyed to him and that was almost certainly a defining moment in what has been termed ‘The War of the Princes’, a feud that reached an all-time low in 2010 when the Duke’s financially troubled ex-wife Sarah offered to sell introductions to him and his powerful friends (he was then Britain’s trade envoy) in return for a payment of £500,000, claiming that Andrew himself had suggested the figure. The claim was strongly denied but Charles found it hard to contain his disgust at the actions of his brother’s ex-wife. He became convinced that the same people who had set Andrew up with unsavoury company in New York were behind the ‘Fergie sting’ and he worried that his sons – particularly Harry, made vulnerable because of his penchant for nights out, might also become entrapped. That he should allow this row to be sustained in 2012 illustrates how seriously the heir was taking the ‘Andrew problem’.
No sooner had British Airways flight BA292 taken off from Washington DC’s Dulles International airport bound for London Heathrow at a little after 11 p.m. on 7 May, than Harry fell asleep in his business class seat. It had been a long day: he had been in America for less than nine hours of a 24-hour special leave but was later to say that they were probably the most honourable nine hours of his life – so far.
As he boarded the 747 London-bound airliner a stewardess offered him a dinner menu but he politely declined it saying he had already eaten. That was the understatement of the year: he had just dined at Washington’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel alongside his military hero, General Colin Powell – arguably the greatest soldier of his generation – who was about to present him with the Atlantic Council Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership in front of an international assembly of distinguished guests.
Although there were three other recipients – including Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations – no one was left in any doubt that the event had largely been in Harry’s honour. The girls outside the hotel entrance were screaming his name as they might once have done for the Beatles, but this was no occasion for teen idols. Indeed, his greatest female admirer that day turned out to be America’s Second Lady, Vice-President Joe Biden’s wife Jill, who was obviously (and somewhat embarrassingly) captivated by the young British royal.
On the outbound flight that morning Harry had, according to a travel companion, worried about whether he was worthy of the honour former US Secretary of State Powell was about to confer on him. He was scribbling into the speech he would deliver just a few hours later: ‘For a captain in the British Army to be introduced by such a world-renowned soldier and statesman is truly humbling … and a little terrifying… Genuinely, I don’t feel that I have done nearly enough to deserve this award.’
On his arrival he had collected his modest set of luggage – one lounge suit for a reception that afternoon at the British embassy, a black tie suit for the evening’s formal dinner, and a framed photograph he had signed for British ambassador Sir Peter Westmacott – before he set off for the embassy to spend time with the people he admires most: wounded veterans.
Powell introduced a note of humour into his speech of praise, acknowledging Harry’s personal popularity in the US:
Apart from recognising his contributions to the humanitarian projects, I would be remiss if I didn’t note that his presence has altered the normal demographic make-up of our audience: we have a record number of single young women here. You saw them outside. I also have to say the average age for an Atlantic Council dinner has dropped twenty-five years and [he added turning to Harry] for that we have to thank you.
Then, in a brief message that brought a tear to Harry’s eyes, Powell added, ‘Clearly the loving effort Diana made to teach her sons the importance of serving others has touched the hearts and souls of her two sons and continues her legacy.’
In his response Harry chose to pass the credit afforded him on to those veterans who had suffered for their cause:
It would be wrong of me to speak for these heroes, but not presumptuous of me to pay tribute to them: so many of our servicemen and women have made the ultimate sacrifice; so many lives have been lost and so many changed forever by the wounds that they have suffered in the course of their duties. They have paid a terrible price to keep us safe and free.
The events of that day would prove the highlight of what was already an incredible year in the life of Harry Wales. While the Queen’s popularity soared to new heights as she toured her kingdom with Prince Philip, acknowledging celebrations held in honour of her Diamond Jubilee, and the nation had fallen as much in love with William and Kate as the two had with each other, it was Harry who emerged as the gleaming new star, for this was the year in which he was truly anointed the People’s Prince. What had brought about this incredible change in the man once dubbed ‘the royal rebel’? I have asked a man close to him who his main influences have been. The answer was: ‘his parents’. Despite the differences between them, they had both contributed enormously to the way his life had shaped itself: Diana had taught him to be charitable, how to care for others less fortunate than himself; Charles had instilled in him a love of conservation, how to be concerned about the planet he lives on and how to do all he can for young people.
As his international popularity soared, a group of powerful Canadians said they wanted him as their king, GQ magazine made him their cover boy and named him the best-dressed member of the Royal Family, and dubious praise came from the late Boris Berezovsky, the oligarch who picked Vladimir Putin as Russia’s leader. London-exiled Berezovsky described Harry as one of the brightest symbols of the modern civilised world and declared that if he had his powerful way again Russia would become a monarchy with Harry Wales as its head of state. As a further nod to his popularity it was declared that ‘Harry’ was now the name UK parents chose for their new
born boys more than any other.
But his outstanding achievement of the year was the work he did at home behind the scenes, work that went unpublicised: it was Harry who almost single-handedly did much to modernise the monarchy in the spring and summer of 2012. It was, for example, he who persuaded the Queen not only to permit the Jubilee rock concert to be staged in front of Buckingham Palace but to sit through most of it sharing the music with many thousands of her younger subjects.
Knowing she would not be ready to join the audience until 9 p.m., Harry had talked the organisers into ensuring that Sir Elton John did not take to the stage before then for Harry knew that the singing piano player was one of her favourite performers after being introduced to his music by the Queen Mother who had frequently taken tea with him at his home in Windsor. Seated behind his grandmother for the concert, Harry leaned forward from time to time to tell her who some of the acts were and what they were singing about.
And it was after a plea from her younger grandson that Her Majesty overruled a decision by palace officials not to allow the band Madness to perform their hits ‘Our House’ and ‘It Must Be Love’ from the very rooftop of the Queen’s London home.
Furthermore, he encouraged his father to deliver the line which stole the show when Charles paid tribute to his mother in his brief Jubilee concert speech. Traditionally the royals have always referred to close relatives in public by their royal titles (I once heard Princess Margaret – in response to the question ‘And how is your sister, Ma’am?’ – retort, ‘Are you referring to Her Majesty the Queen?’), but Charles broke the mould when he looked at his mother and after describing her as ‘Your Majesty’, to the delight of the crowd, added after a well-calculated pause, ‘Mummy…’ Apparently Harry claims credit for the line and jokes about becoming his father’s main speechwriter. Having used the same trick though at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, it seems Charles might well have been humouring his second-born.
But Harry’s greatest achievement was to persuade his grandmother to take part in the spoof James Bond movie for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. When she was first asked to act out a scene with Bond actor Daniel Craig, the senior aide who put the proposal to her says he expected her to be shocked that he had even dared to do so. ‘But she thought for a few moments and said, “I’ll see what Harry says.”’
By the insider account that reaches this author, Harry could hardly believe his ears when the idea was relayed to him: ‘Go it for, Gran,’ was his response. Even he could not have conceived a better progression for his royal modernisation work. The ceremony’s producer Danny Boyle was stunned when he learned from Her Majesty’s deputy private secretary Edward Young that she had agreed to be a Bond Girl for a night.
And so it came to pass that Craig, dressed in his 007 tuxedo, was filmed arriving at Buckingham Palace in a black cab and being escorted by a flunky through the illustrious corridors to the Queen’s rarely seen study. Her Majesty remained working at her desk until the exact moment of his appointment arrived and then turned to receive him with the words, ‘Good evening, Mr Bond.’ It was a perfect delivery; there were no smiles, just an acknowledgment that there was a job to be done, a mission to be carried out and they both had a part to play in it.
Accompanied by her three Pembroke Welsh Corgis she then walked with Craig from the study and back along the corridor by which he had arrived. In the Palace courtyard the two were seen clambering into a helicopter – although by now the ‘Queen’ was being played by the actress Julia McKenzie, famed for her television role as Miss Marple. The scene concluded with stunt double Gary Connery – wearing an identical salmon-pink dress to that in which the Queen had received ‘Mr Bond’ complete with gloves and handbag – parachuting, knickers billowing, alongside Craig’s double into the Olympic Stadium. Moments later the real Queen, wearing the same dress as she had been in the filmed palace sequence, received a standing ovation as she entered the arena with Prince Philip.
And where was Harry? At The Enterprise pub in South Kensington, laughing aloud with his friend Skippy, in whom he had obviously confided what was about to happen, although when asked later how surprised he was by the Queen’s parachute jump, Harry said, ‘What she does in her spare time is her business.’ In excellent spirits and clearly not intending to drive home, he had downed generous quantities of sauvignon blanc to wash down a substantial steak topped with asparagus and a mango sorbet while his protection officer sank half a pint of Guinness at the bar.
Still in party mood, and clearly delighted with the success of the amazing event his advice had inspired, Harry set off the following morning to spend the weekend with his latest girlfriend Cressida Bonas, the 23-year-old daughter of fun-loving former model (and four times married and divorced) Lady Mary-Gaye Curzon. The two then joined the crowds attending the Womad festival at Charlton Park, the Earl of Suffolk’s 4,500-acre Wiltshire estate. Back in party mood, Harry – with Cressida never more than inches from his side – amused his friends by wearing a duck-shaped hat; in response to a question from one of them, he was overheard saying he had ‘absolutely no regrets’ at learning earlier in the week that one of his old flames, the exotic lingerie model Florence Brudenell-Bruce, had returned to the arms of her long-term boyfriend Henry St George.
Harry had a helpful distraction: he was smitten by Ms Bonas from the moment he was introduced to her by his cousin Eugenie. She was just his type – tall, blonde and leggy. He knew that her impeccable pedigree was just what his Palace guardians would approve of – not that he had much time for their opinion. Her much-loved mother, Lady Mary, the daughter of veteran racing driver Earl Howe, a godson of Edward VII, was the ‘It’ girl of her day and a sporting woman by all accounts, Cressida being one of the five children she had by three of her husbands. Cressida’s paternal great-grandfather, however, was of more humble stock: George Bonas was an impoverished butcher when he arrived in Battersea from his Midlands home.
Although she was working as a model for Burberry when she met Harry, Cressida once aspired to become an actress, an ambition that was almost certainly put in the shade by the possibility of becoming a princess.
A true blueblood (at least on her mother’s side), she mixes in the very best circles. When she was studying at Leeds her boyfriend was Harry Wentworth-Stanley, whose stepfather George Milford Haven is a cousin of the Queen. She is also a close friend of the York set – Fergie as well as the Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. In her teens she spent three years at the Royal Ballet School on Princess Alexandra’s doorstep in Richmond Park, but according to a family friend,
the pressure was too much. She decided she didn’t want to go down the ballet route and her parents took her out and sent her to Prior Park College in Bath on a sports scholarship. She’s a dreamy romantic whose reading taste rarely strays beyond the novels of Jane Austen and Nancy Mitford. In short she is very stable and a most suitable potential bride for the Prince. Intellectually she is probably his superior. Personally, I’d bet on her being ‘the one’ when the time comes for him to choose a bride.
Harry had been seeing Cressida for several weeks before deciding to unveil her in public at a midsummer night party to celebrate the London premiere of the latest Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. Although they carried out the usual manoeuvre of arriving separately at the party – her on the arm of Harry’s friend ‘Skippy’ Inskip – once inside they made no secret of the fact that they were together. And when they moved on to a second venue, Le Salon, there were plenty of witnesses to testify that they spent much of their time kissing and cuddling (although the Prince was highly amused to read the following morning that the girl in his arms was the model Cara Delevingne).
‘I think Harry wanted Chelsy [Davy] to be sure she got the message that he had moved on,’ says his talkative chum.
But don’t write Chelsy off, she was the love of his life for seven years and it wouldn’t surprise me if she didn’t re-emerge at some point in the not-too-distant future. His
recent announcement that he was now 100 per cent single was, I’m sure, sent as a message to Chelsy – a message that if she wanted him back she would have to work for it.
Height and long blonde hair are not the only things 23-year-old Ms Bonas has in common with his on/off sweetheart. Like Ms Davy she went to Stowe (as did Florence Brudenell-Bruce) before also moving on to Leeds University. While keen to see the Prince settle down, some royal matchmakers had their doubts about whether the Bonas family was a suitable one for the Windsors to merge with: Cressida’s father, Old Harrovian Jeffrey Bonas was once accused of being ‘unreliable’ by a judge in a court case over the £1.2 million he paid his first wife in the divorce brought on by his adulterous affair with Cressida’s mother. The judge accused Bonas of hiding his wealth in offshore Isle of Man accounts.
So keen was Harry to watch Usain Bolt run for gold in the 2012 Olympics that he persuaded the organisers of a charity polo match he and William were committed to playing in to bring the match forward by half an hour so he could drive the 100 miles from Cirencester to reach the stadium in time for the 100 metres final. No helicopters for him; he was only too well aware of the negative publicity his uncle Andrew had brought on the family when he insisted on charter planes for foreign trips and helicopters to travel to golf matches – usually at public expense.
Ecstatic at Bolt’s gold-medal victory – he ran the 100 metres in 9.63 seconds (the second-fastest time ever) – Harry decided a celebration dinner with his brother and sister-in-law was called for. Not for them a caviar and lobster feast at an award-winning restaurant in Mayfair but a home-prepared supper, albeit ‘home’ being Harry’s place at Kensington Palace – a one-bedroom former staff apartment that he calls home until he takes over Nottingham Cottage when the Cambridges move into the late Princess Margaret’s refurbished apartment in October 2013. He shopped for the food at the nearby branch of Marks & Spencer, scooping vacuum-packed steaks, a ready-cooked chicken, rocket salad and Cheddar cheese into his basket to the astonishment of fellow shoppers who were not used to standing in line behind a prince.
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