@JADS Ohh…can I get a ‘ruler’ ruler from gift shop, still? Will have a look online.
@Patineur I suspect you’re right. This RAF/Army trainer sounds like he has/had Harry’s back. It’s a shame re: History teacher etc, he’s not seemingly noting that people have his back or are kindly. Not everyone is an enemy you have to bristle at.
@MonsoonMadness yes, hierarchy. I know of a ‘Chid’ too, @AutumnCrow (Richard) except that’s not his real name, he’s brother number four! All ‘Chid’ at public school!
Harry
Why is/was he so seemingly insecure? He is good looking, tall, charismatic, humorous, gung ho, practical & sporty. Why wouldn’t Meghan want him for HIM? Why did he feel all mates & sundry would be impressed he’d ‘pulled’ this ‘stunna’ as he’s a ‘ginger’ who learns at a ‘glacial pace’? Women are not trophies, why was he seemingly looking for one? One to show Willy that ‘wives’ are not all dullsville, WI types, ‘Jam & Jersualem’ & ‘middle aged before time’ as poss H saw it? It feels shallow, immature & a recipe for disaster.
His father loved Camilla arguably for many reasons but not only for looks & sex appeal. They’re clearly good for each other & have the same belief & value systems: love of art, the outdoors etc.
Upbringjng/Diana & school
A boy like Harry, not academic, would prob land at Radley or similar if born into a more typical upper middle class family. ‘If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree’ etc. It might be a cautionary tale re: the ‘over coaching’ that goes on in some families with parents seeing the holy grail as Westminster, Wycombe Abbey, Eton, etc. Why is being academically clever so important? Esp when many of the successful entrepreneurs out there are creative, social souls. A cliche, but if you’re happy, you THRIVE. Ideally parents find the ‘best fit’ re: schools, as far as possible & good Preps are experienced & will advise.
H is a casualty of being the ‘wrong fit’. He wasn’t ‘Eton shaped’. Arguably, he showed real guts asking the history teacher to consider his feelings & also to tell other teachers the learning pace was too fast ‘how did they all GET IT? The other boys?’.
I am not surprised he rebelled & switched off. You see this all the time & can lead to mutinous rebellion, to a big F you (!) to the family & parents. Drugs, alcohol surprisingly common in this perfect storm, outcasts seek outcasts, the troubled magnetising the troubled & other victims of benign neglect. He needed intervention & ideally genuine familial love, before things escalated & a good psychiatrist who could calmly assess & medicate as/if appropriate.
If he wasn’t sporty he’d likely have fared FAR worse mentally, it greatly helps with popularity. As per, on the flipside in Manchester, Morrissey, might have been destroyed were he not always in demand for sport & teams. Popular people, leaders, are often sporty, it builds charisma, confidence & team sports teach you a lot about life ‘ success. ‘Life is just a ballgame’. As Womack & Womack once sung.
Harry is/was highly sensitive, walking behind his mother’s coffin a bad idea for the emotionally robust & well adjusted.
More generally, I do so wonder about undiagnosed neurodiversity as I write.
Diana’s influence
Diana was doing GREAT things with the boys. She wanted to introduce them to ‘normal people’ & show them empathy in practice, the sick, the ill & the dying.
Harry is very like his mother in many respects, she’d have understood his academic challenges & recognised his qualities.
Maybe W really had the benefit here? He was older. He also had the stability of the Middletons? It’s a shame H couldn’t sometimes too, maybe getting to know brother James, sensitive, who also isn’t in the mould of a ex Etonian Boris Johnson type?
Snobbery & the shallow cruelty & superficial
Where does this come from? Why the sneering at the unfortunate, utilitarian, provincial bungalow of the history teacher who hadn’t ‘got’ a wife or family? Only x2 framed dogs on desk, the tone cries out ‘what a loser’. He was ‘eccentric’, odd’ & low status, how dare HE pick up on Wales not paying attention in History, of all people? The ‘greasy’ & unattractive Pat, who had the temerity to not be ‘hot’ too? Etc
Graceland is horrible as not fit for a Prince. Loud furniture he’s surprised to see! A badger’s warren of common vulgarity & poor taste! Never mind all in vogue in 70s!
Suddenly his beanbag & soft furnishings are substandard & he notices W ‘lives better’. Why shouldn’t he too? He’s just the ‘spare’.
It seems to smack of entitlement & the superficial, the Montecito mansion might not be enough, he might hanker after bigger better, the billionaire’s toys? Why not? The yacht the jet, is he a posher Jay Gatsby & Meghan a 21st century, Daisy? I hope not.
Apparently he dumped Cressida, why I wonder? I think his early instincts for humanitarian work in Africa very sound. He loved being a Jackaroo too! Good honest labour! Made him feel great.
It’s as if H has frozen at a lost 12 year stage. So very sad especially as he has good qualities & looks to be a great father.
Is Meghan honest & true? If so things may work out. She’s intelligent, did she figure out all that glitters is not gold? Learn lessons ? Family and H first? High status men a previous practical choice, required for her move away from ‘ influencerdom’
Does she genuinely adore him too, warts & all? If not the mask will eventually slip. What happens next will be interesting..
Can they stay put and focus on philanthropic work causes & projects they believe in? Not court the A list? Let’s judge them by their genuine actions over time.