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Prince Harry: “I’m honored to be a veteran”
Stuck for something to listen to in lockdown?
The Royalist would like to suggest this cracking podcast featuring Prince Harry at his best, talking with military veterans about how former servicemen are getting involved in the coronavirus response through volunteer and community networks.
In the podcast, Harry, sounding every inch his mother’s son, praises the response of veterans to the pandemic, and also spoke about what he described as the “gaping hole” left for military veterans, such as himself, who have “hung up” their uniform.
Harry was speaking on the “Declassified” podcast, and one focus of the chat was the work of Team Rubicon, an international disaster response charity largely staffed by veteran soldiers, with which Harry was involved in a relief mission after the Nepalese earthquake of 2015.
“The moment I got there, mixing in with the guys again, you have that, you just have that hole filled again, that gaping hole that everybody feels once you have to hang up the uniform,” Harry said.
Harry spoke about visiting Nepalese communities and working with local soldiers as part of Team Rubicon, which is calling on ex-servicemen and women to help in the U.K. effort against coronavirus (however it should be noted that Team Rubicon is equally active in the U.S right now and also looking for volunteers.)
Harry said the veterans he worked alongside in Nepal were people who “really want to give back, really want to continue to serve and do what they do best.”
Harry recalled of the relief mission, “The banter was there, I got to meet some new people, got to see some familiar faces, and at the end of the day you are all trying to do the same thing, which is use your skill set, use your experience and your training to fix problems, to make people’s lives better and to work together in a team. So in a sense it was kind of perfect for all of us.
“It’s incredibly fulfilling being able to do good. You sign up and join for a reason and for one reason or another that comes to an end, so [you take] any opportunity to be able to continue to serve, to be able to make a difference … and have a bit of a laugh at the same time. That’s kind of what it’s all about.”
Harry said the training and culture of the military turn you into an “exceptional human being” saying the values of the military instilled “selflessness rather than selfishness,” adding, “I think in today’s culture we need more role models that are willing to put others ahead of themselves.”
Harry said, “I believe whether you are wearing the uniform or not those values will be with you for the rest of your life.”
“Being part of the unit, part of the team, certainly for me ... it makes you feel totally equal but at the same time makes you want to do everything you can for the person on your left and the person on your right, whether that is on operations, being shot at and blown up, or whether that’s back at home, throwing yourself out the car to go help at a road traffic accident,” he said.
“It’s about purpose, belonging, meaning... all of these things. It’s such a shame the military community has been reduced so much because I think the vast majority of people benefit from the experiences they have.
“To help others, to give back and to play a part in society and in your community, to be a good neighbor, makes you a better person makes you feel better, is good for your well-being and your mental fitness, and that’s just a fact.”
Speaking about the 99-year-old veteran Tom Moore, who has raised millions for charity, Harry said, “It’s not just what he’s done, it’s how people have reacted. It’s just wonderfully British. I’m honored to be a veteran, to be part of that community.”
He said the response to the coronavirus was showing, “the very best of the human spirit ... you can really sense the human spirit coming to the forefront.”
Harry finished up by saying: “I really hope this keeps going after the coronavirus, after this whole pandemic has come to a close.”
Meghan tells—probably not all
Don’t expect her to trash William and Kate.
Don’t expect her to deliver a slam to the British establishment.
So, what will Meghan Markle say to ABC’s Good Morning America Monday in her first major interview since stepping down—along with husband Prince Harry—as a “senior royal”?
Possibly quite a lot of stuff about elephants, as the interview is to plug her first voiceover gig. “On GMA Monday, Meghan Markle with an exclusive first look at the Disney documentary Elephant,” a trailer intones. Meghan undertook the gig in return for a donation to wildlife charity, Elephants Without Borders.
The documentary follows a herd of elephants on their 1,000-mile journey through Zimbabwe and Botswana, and Meghan’s job came after Harry himself lobbied Disney chief Bob Iger for a job for his wife at the U.K. premiere of The Lion King last summer.
“You know she [Meghan] does voiceovers,” Harry said, wondering if a future collaboration might be possible. “Sure. We’d love to try,” a cornered Iger replied.
As previously reported, Markle’s agents had hoped she could play a Marvel superhero. Disney, which owns the Marvel franchise, was reportedly not very interested.
“She knows she can’t carry a film as an actress. People won’t be able to get past the fact she’s Meghan Markle,” a source told The Mail on Sunday in March. “But she’s determined to act again and she thinks a big, ensemble film is the way to go… something that pays big but which doesn’t put her front and center.”
So, for now, elephants it is. The documentary, as British audiences know, is innocuous enough. The same can be said for Meghan’s narration, and more inoffensiveness may be expected for her GMA interview—unless Meghan sees it as an opportunity to settle some scores and show some royal receipts.
The interview comes as TMZ is reporting that the rumors about Harry and Meghan looking for a Malibu home are incorrect; Meghan and Harry are reportedly “angling for a home somewhere between $12 million and $18 mil in the super-exclusive and super-expensive Bel-Air area of Los Angeles,” TMZ claims.
Royal fashion watch
Harry and Meghan’s masked sorties for Project Angel Food in Los Angeles have seen the couple hit the streets like modern-day Robin Hoods. They have been papped twice, looking oh-so-casual in casual—jeans, T shirts, leggings, baseball caps—heading to various apartments in West Hollywood. The Mail bitchily noted that on day two they “downgraded from a Porsche to a Cadillac.”
The contrast with William and Kate’s cozy at-home-in-sensible sweaters chat about keeping the kids happy during lockdown couldn’t be greater. Harry and Meghan: out there. Kate and William: safe and home.
This week in royal history
The queen celebrates her 94th birthday on April 21. A tumultuous year only got more tumultuous for her, as the drama around Harry and Meghan segued to the coronavirus crisis and the queen’s public speeches, which have proven both stirring and empathetic; the best of the queen.
For the first time in 68 years, there will not be a gun salute for the queen’s birthday, as the queen reportedly felt as if it would not be appropriate. Instead, she will spend her birthday under lockdown in Windsor.
No party
Indeed, the Mail reports that this will not be the first time the queen had to cancel her birthday. The paper’s Richard Eden talked to one of her two surviving bridesmaids, Lady Pamela Hicks, who turns 91 on Sunday.
“She was living with us when Prince Philip was serving in the Navy and we decided, as mine is the 19th and hers is the 21st, ‘Why don’t we have a joint birthday party and a dance?’” Lady Pamela, daughter of the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, told Eden.
“Then we thought, ‘To be fair, we’d better have it on the intervening day, on the 20th.’ Unfortunately, when we looked further, that was Adolf Hitler’s birthday, so we cancelled that date.”
Unanswered questions
What is Harry and Meghan’s long-term LA game plan? Will we at least get a hint from Meghan of their hopes and dreams for the future in between all the elephant chat on Monday?
