So we’ve all seen Prince Harry’s bottom today, big
deal. He is holidaying in Las Vegas and
some “loyal” companion has sold photos of him in his VIP suite playing strip
snooker on a drunken evening to American site TMZ. The media has gone wild sharing some
delightful puns such as “he really has put the crown jewels on display” and he
“bares all,” and is demanding some reaction from The Palace.
But The Palace walls have seen it all before. Prince Harry is not the first royal playboy
and he certainly won’t be the last.
His father Prince Charles has had his fair share of the headlines and his uncle Prince Andrew is sadly still doing it; a constant PR problem for The Palace with travel expenses and flings.
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| The Tudor ginger rogue |
Some of the most glorious royals in history were naughty. Comparisons have long been made between our
Prince Harry and another handsome red-headed Prince, Harry Tudor. He, too, as a second son was not expected to
become King and therefore didn’t have that burden or responsibility. But before he became notorious for those 6
wives and The Reformation, King Henry VIII was the famed, fun-loving playboy of
his time. The image we have of an
overweight, disease-ridden King from his later years is far from the handsome
and athletic young Prince who was adored by everybody and brought glamour and
glory to the court (remind you of anyone?)
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| King Edward VIII |
King Edward VIII, Prince Harry’s great-great-uncle, is
another famous wayward royal. By defying
his Father and marrying a divorcee, the former Prince of Wales draws obvious parallels
with our own Prince of Wales and his marriage to Camilla, Duchess of
Cornwall. But Edward VIII, known as
David, was also a notorious womaniser and playboy. His reckless behaviour in the 1920s and 30s
worried many people as he sailed carefree around the Med on yachts and
socialised with questionable people. His
personal secretary Alan Lascelles was documented as saying
“for some hereditary or physiological reason his normal mental development stopped dead when he reached adolescence".
That sounds like a few men I know!
Royalty aside, don’t we all know a few men in their 20s who
party too hard until responsibility comes a-knocking? But Prince Harry has begun to face his
responsibilities; certain parts of the media choose to forget how Prince Harry
was celebrated for his part of the Jubilee tour where he melted hearts in
Jamaica and successfully conveyed the youthful representation of The Royal
Family. His well-received speech included
“I count it
a great privilege to be standing here tonight, representing The Queen in
Jamaica on her Diamond Jubilee. Her Majesty has asked me to extend her great
good wishes to you all, and is sorry that she can't be here - so you're stuck
with me... but don't worry, cos every liddle ting gonna be alright!”
To me, he, or at least his speech writer, got
the tone completely right.
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| Is no one even slightly jealous?! |
He was also chosen to represent HRH the Queen at The Olympic
Closing Ceremony; maybe nobody else wanted to sit through Emeli Sande and
Russell Brand and who can blame him for a blow-out holiday after that?
We all love Prince Harry; women of all ages not-so-secretly-
fancy him, men wish they could be him and we all forgave the Nazi gaff, blurry late
night exits from nightclubs and so, of course, the nation can forgive him this.
On a news day when a young girl has tragically drowned with
her granddad in Portugal, we are still debating the definition of rape and the
death of locked-in syndrome sufferer, Tony Nicklinson do we really need to
waste our brain cells worrying about this?
Don’t forget this is the year to be in love with The Royal
Family; the Diamond Jubilee, the emergence of William and Kate as the faces of
“the new royals” brand and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie wearing better
outfits. For goodness sakes, this is the
year that the Queen did a skit with James Bond so cut her and The Palace some
slack. We don’t need Royal comment or
apologies, they, like the rest of us have got much better things to be doing.
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN FOR THE HUFFINGTON POST
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