Prince Harry current events 10: July-August 2006

[Elspeth]

At the very least, someone should lose their job over this. It sounded utterly deliberate.

[Oppie]

The bottom of the Sun article says that they will make a donation to a charity of Natalies choice. Although I would like to know how much, probably won't put a dent in the sales they made yesterday.

[TonyaR]

Originally Posted by BeatrixFan

Let's bear in mind Zonk that these are the papers who employ James Whittaker. The only thing likely to be true in their stories is the date at the top of the page.

LOL BeatrixFan, you are a priceless treasure.

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by Frances1

Even tho this photos are 3 years old, Harry should be made aware that his behaviour is on trial at all times due to the role and position he has in life!

Prince Harry was born into this role. The Charter of Human Rights states that all men are equal and all have an equal right to decide how to live according to their possibilities.

Prince Harry is a millionaire in his own right. He is a British citizen. he is over 21. He can live exactly as he wants to. Why and where should he be on trial? Who's the jury who is superior to him? If he does not want to live like his family wants him to do, he can always go abroad like the Duke of Windsor did.

Who should be the one to "make Harry aware" of something? He is not financed by the public, he has no obligations as he is only the "spare" and does not stand to inherit anything that belongs to the "crown". Okay, he was born with the title of prince but today there is no obligation attached to it other than those accepted out of honour, love of his country and love/commitment to his family. He could live the life of a male Paris Hilton-type playboy and noone could do anything about it except writing articles and complaining in internet forums. So - why bother? Most of the time it's a pleasurable pasttime to follow his tracks and if he changes this way of life, it's up to us to leave him alone.

But who gives one the right to complain about this young man? For me, he has the same right of choosing his own lifestyle as anybody else and is bound only by the law like any other citizen.

[BeatrixFan]

Well, I agree with most of what you said Jo, but IMO Harry still has a certain dignity to keep. He can sleep with a one-legged lesbian bus conductress in private for all I care but in public, he's a Prince of the Realm and he represents our Queen and our country. He has to understand that he's above the regular common man and if he starts acting like an ordinary person, what hope is there for the rest of us?

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by BeatrixFan

Well, I agree with most of what you said Jo, but IMO Harry still has a certain dignity to keep. He can sleep with a one-legged lesbian bus conductress in private for all I care but in public, he's a Prince of the Realm and he represents our Queen and our country. He has to understand that he's above the regular common man and if he starts acting like an ordinary person, what hope is there for the rest of us?

Somehow I don't think he will behave like that even in private but so far he has only made some (minor) errors (especially the nazi-thing)in public. Even these show IMHO, that he is a vivid character, not a shy well-behaved nobody. Compared to some of the things grand-daddy Edinburgh loves to utter, he is quite tame in his public appearances....

But - when Harry did what we can see now on these infamous pics, he thought himself to be not "HRH Prince Henry of Wales" but just Harry, a friend of the hostess of a private party. That's the difference - you can't judge IMHO the public personage based on the information you get from his private life. At least not when it comes to partying. It's okay if you expect to see for example a love of telling the truth both in his private and public life, but when it comes to relaxing and partying, there surely can be made allowances for a private behaviour that would be utmost impossible at a formal state dinner. Or so.

[BeatrixFan]

I agree with you but he musn't think of himself of "just Harry". Alot rests on the Royal Family. If they lower their standards and behave like commoners then what's the point in it all? That's when it becomes dangerous.

[Skydragon]

Originally Posted by Jo of Palatine

Prince Harry was born into this role. The Charter of Human Rights states that all men are equal and all have an equal right to decide how to live according to their possibilities........
......... But who gives one the right to complain about this young man? For me, he has the same right of choosing his own lifestyle as anybody else and is bound only by the law like any other citizen.

Well said Jo, he is not hurting anyone, only some of his reputation. I believe that as he gets older, like most young royals, he will settle down, if only slightly!

[sophie]

Originally Posted by BeatrixFan

With all due respect that's rubbish. They were too young to see what went on with Diana and bringing her up here is rather low IMO.They are young. They aren't engaged. Nowadays it's usual to have several girlfriends before marriage. In Britain, the divorce rate is rising year on year and it's more than likely that Harry or William will settle down and realise it isn't for them and ditch the old wife and get a new one.

with all due respect that is not rubbish. they were not too young to see what went on with diana. diana said herself that she would cry in the bathroom and william would put tissues under the door, she also said that william was very wise for his age. and there was nothing low about bring her up and i never said anything about them being engaged.

[BeatrixFan]

I'd take anything St. Diana said with a pinch of salt dear. As a young boy, I doubt Harry and William sat down and read the Daily Mail, saying to one another, "Shocking news about Mummy, we must never cheat on our wives".

[Elspeth]

Let's not turn this into a discussion about Diana, thank you.

Elspeth

British forum moderator

[Jo of Palatine]

Originally Posted by BeatrixFan

I agree with you but he musn't think of himself of "just Harry". Alot rests on the Royal Family. If they lower their standards and behave like commoners then what's the point in it all? That's when it becomes dangerous.

Okay, but when I read in one of the early biographies about prince Charles that he even let his girlfriends call him "Sir" in their bedroom, I found it, well, strange, even bordering on the ... hm... which word is best here...., even bordering on the kinky side. I've nothing against playing powergames in the bedroom, but then the accent is on "playing" while the prince seemed to be haughtly living the "august position" he was born to. Okay, it is mere gossip as far as that goes and I treasure the prince for what he does for the unfortunate in our society.

But - I'm a German educated by teachers who were born in the war or shortly thereafter and had lived through 1968 as rebelling students. For us the idea of power and the perversions who may come out of the misuse of this power both through dictatorships and through society and its system has been a very important topic on the agenda.

So for me the idea that prince Harry is able to distinguish between "HRH Prince Henry of Wales" and plain "Harry W." (be it Windsor or Wales) on different occasions for me is a positive thing. For it seems to tell me that he is not only counting nobility or royality among his "equals" but has other friends as well. Agreed, he probably won't befriend a working class girl, but I don't see him as the "typical" british officer of the 1800s either, who has only contempt or indifference for people who are from a different background.

As for "lowering their standards" - for me prince Charles is setting a standard, but not because he is Royality and wants people to call him "Sir", but because he really talks to the people and really tries to help them. He lives according to his own standards and these are "good" in my interpretation. prince Harry really might live exactly as he wants - if he follows in his father's and the queen's footsteps, I'll like him and be glad that he has the position to get people's attention for his projects. But if he started behaving like his distant cousin Ernst August of Hanover, who is called the "Prügelprinz" ("beating prince") here in Germany because he easily starts beating people up when they displease him and has been convicted for that, then for me Prince Harry would loose all claim to being interesting.

Hope it's clearer now.

[BeatrixFan]

As far as I know, Charles prefers "Your Royal Highness" but will settle for "Sir" and with no disrespect intended, his staff tell everyone in America to call him "Sir" because Charles knows they can't get the hang of titles. He does really talk to the people and he tries to help them but so does his mother and she's still all for "Your Majesty". For me, Charles is my Prince of Wales and he will be my King and I have absolutely no right to criticise him because of a) my beliefs on the role of the Royal Family and b) my appreciation of Charles but the problem is, if the younger members of the Royal Family start saying, "Call me Harry, Call me Beatrice" and behave like normal people then what's the point? If they act like normal people then what's to say that the public won't say, "Well be normal people then". It's a slippery slope when you relax formality and change the way the Royal Family reacts to the people because you can't go back - you can only go down. As to bed games, whatever plumps your pillows I suppose but surely Charles should be "living the august position he was born to"?

[Warren]

Since the moral indignation over "recent" pics has died down, it's time for Harry to turn over a new leaf with a new thread.

Part 11 (yes, eleven) can be found here