When we think of royalty, we think of the fictional tales of princesses trapped in towers. Or we think of mermaids who fall in love with princes only to sacrifice their voices. Perhaps we consider Anne Hathaway’s The Princess Diaries character, Mia, as the royal it-girl as she has Mary Poppins herself, Julie Andrews, as a grandmother. Oh, and there was no blood-related spare if Mia was deemed unsuitable for royal life. Whatever the case, it is nothing compared to the real thing.
Forget the ugly stepsisters and glass slippers that only fit one person. Being a royal isn’t as glamorous as we believe it to be. There is a pecking order, and you must be extremely good at holding a person’s attention with small talk. Unfortunately, this was not what Meghan Markle wanted to do. Nor was it all that vital to her blue-blooded husband, Prince Harry.
We all know how they had to escape the evil royal family who was horrid to Meghan because she dared to be a breath of fresh air. This is going off the sarcasm used by royal correspondents. Unfortunately, the man living with the immense jealousy that he was born second to his big brother will be king doesn’t understand that being the spare isn’t underwhelming.
Harry had more freedom than his brother ever had growing up. He didn’t have to deal with keeping his image clean, while William had to have the most pristine reputation possible. Why? Because the future monarch couldn’t have a repeat of scandals like their great-great-uncle, the former King Edward VIII, had to deal with.
No, we’re not talking about the Wallis Simpson situation. Edward was a Nazi sympathiser and was well-known for this. Then, many years later, came the now-King Charles III’s Tampon-gate scandal with now-wife Queen Consort Camilla. Tampon-gate happened during his marriage to William and Harry’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
Harry believes his family is uncaring and cold, but his paranoia is kicking in. He doesn’t understand the joys of being the spare. Also, he seems not to be aware that for a long time, his grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, was, for a time, a spare as was his great-aunt, Princess Margaret and his great-grandfather, King George VI.
Some spare heirs don’t have an issue with their position, but others do. One famous example is Prince Joachim of Denmark. He allegedly has no great relationship with his older brother, Crown Prince Frederik. He got upset when their mother, Queen Margrethe II, stripped his four children of their princely titles.
Another example is Harry’s uncle, Prince Andrew. He hates being second-fiddle to Charles. However, he wasn’t the only royal in second place to the king. What about Princess Anne? She spent an entire decade before the Duke of York was even a thought in the minds of the Queen and Prince Philip as the spare. Anne has never complained about never being Queen. She and Charles are very close and were a confidant to him and their mother until Her Majesty’s passing in September 2022. If anything, it makes Princess Royal more relatable.
Princess Anne might come across as hardened, but her son-in-law, Mike Tindall, gave a fascinating insight when he was a contestant on the UK version of I’m Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! He said that Princess Royal made quite the comment when he accidentally split his pants, revealing his underwear which read “Nibble my nuts.” Anne’s response? “I’d rather not.”
Moreover, this shows that Anne has a sense of humour. She appears to be an extraordinary lady is has spent her entire life, like her mother and older brother, dedicated to service. Harry claims he is the same, but it’s clear he is not. Here’s why.
He goes to anyone who will listen to him and cries that his life is hard and that his family don’t care about him. However, Harry does not get to dictate to his nearest and dearest that they have to like his significant other. In a recent episode of Palace Confidential, Richard Eden mentions that Harry said in his ITV interview with Tom Bradby that William and Catherine were pushing stereotypes regarding their dislike of Meghan.
Did it occur to him that they got terrible juju from her? It should be stressed that William and Catherine got along fine with Chelsy Davy, Harry’s longtime ex-girlfriend. It is unclear what their relationship was like with Cressida Bonas. Harry’s behaviour doesn’t just fuel the metaphorical fire that being a spare is a horrible position to be in, but it shows why he shouldn’t be the heir.
Harry is self-destructing due to his recklessness and jealousy of others and his thought process of “I’m a world leader; I can say whatever I want.” He is not a world leader. His father and brother are world leaders. After all, they are the king and his heir. Harry, meanwhile, is just the spare. What’s more, it likely chafes his and his wife’s hides that William and Catherine are now the Prince and Princess of Wales, while they, the Sussexes, didn’t get an improved title.
There are a lot of spare heirs in the world who don’t go around trashing their families and screaming that they’re not first. You don’t hear Princess Märtha Louise complaining openly about it, despite her being the eldest child but not the heir. So will Charlotte and Louis complain in years to come? Not if they’re taught that being the spare is not a bad thing.
Harry has always held a massive weight on his chest; he was not treated in the same manner as William. He wants to remember only some of the times the palace covered up his indecent acts in public. While he says that his shroom taking “opened his eyes,” this was irresponsible and could’ve been fatal. It’s clear what the unrelenting Sussex supporters would say if it had ended in tragedy; “The royals drove Harry to his demise.” These are unreasonable lackeys with no empathy for anyone but their gods.
Michelle of the Royal Daily Tea always says that Meghan gives off cult leader vibes. She’s not wrong. In conclusion, Harry has been drawn into a cult-like mentality where everyone is to blame but not him or his darling wife.
