The Guardian: Prince Harry at 40

[TallerSally]

Somewhat more even-keeled coverage of Prince Harry at 40 from Caroline Davies at The Guardian.

Arguably understated quite a few of Harry's recent achievements, eg Spare being the 2023 Nr 1 UK bestseller, or the phenomenal growth of Harry's Invictus Games which will now have 25 countries participating in Whistler/Vancouver February 2025. Little or no mention of the numerous awards Harry has won, eg most recently his ESPY Pat Tilman Award for Service and being named a Living Legend of Aviation, etc.

Anyway, nice to see an attempt at painting a more balanced, perhaps less hysterically rabidly negative picture...

Enjoy!

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/sep/14/prince-harry-at-40-the-difference-a-decade-has-made-to-the-dukes-life

This is all just lazy journalism cut and pasted from his own press release - nothing of substance.

I watched his speech online. Thought it was compentently delivered but quite flat.

There were zero new insights about the issue of online harm to children or any solutions proposed - basically what we have known for years and many others have campaigned relentlessly for. Had the depth of a GCSE Media Studies or PHSE essay.

Late to the party and nothing new to say.

Maybe walk the talk - a bit of introspection needed, look closer to home for problematic behaviour and the negtative impact on others - and yes call out the SS.

All so disingenuous.

Late to the party and nothing new to say.

I think this sums up pretty much all of the endeavours that the Sussexes have been involved in or put their names to

When does Harry arrive in the U.K. ? Wonder if he will pop up to Balmoral ?

I think that there was some earlier speculation that KC3 had a prior royal engagement in Scotland in his diary for when PH was in London for WellChild.

Although I thought that communcations were even frostier than ever - somehing to do with PH talking publically about a private FT KC3 had with A&L on his birthday?

Seemed like any leap of faith to rebuild trust had evaporated with that transgression / invasion of privacy.

Thanks to TallerSally for the thread.

My pleasure!

Now for some more from this super-busy Harry week...

Emily Burack at T&C Mag has been following Harry for a while, and is one of the rare set of reporters who's able to write dispassionately about M&H.

Here's what this article covers:

"I was there to report on a sideline event hosted by Lesotho's delegation to the UN, which gathered royalty and first ladies from around the world to discuss "pressing development issues." The intimate hour-long presentation featured Prince Harry; Queen Masenate Mohato Seeiso of Lesotho; Neo Jane Masisi, the First Lady of Botswana; and Suzanne Innes-Stubb, the First Lady of Finland, speaking about issues ranging from gender-based violence to mental wellness to HIV and AIDS."

"Prince Harry's remarks to the small gathered group took a decidedly personal tone. He began by speaking in English then Sesotho, a language of Lesotho*. "I would like to start by extending my deepest gratitude to Their Majesties for their continued friendship," Harry said. "The Lesotho royal family, as well as Lesotho itself, has been a pillar of strength for me over the last 20 years, welcoming me with open arms and such kindness."

Bet y'all didn't know Harry could speak Sesotho!

And if you're among the zillions that have read Harry's 2023 Nr1 UK and New York Times Bestseller Spare, this will be familiar to you:

"He continued, "The beautiful mountain kingdom feels like a home away from home, that friendship has only grown stronger as we've worked together to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing the pursuit of people and the wider world. It all began two decades ago, when my dear friend Prince Seeiso first gave me a tour of your special country. I was struck by the strength and courage of your people amidst the immense challenges they face."
"Prince Harry first visited Lesotho in 2004, during his gap year between graduating Eton and beginning at Sandhurst military academy. Two years later, he and Prince Seeiso co-founded the charity Sentebale, which means forget-me-not in Sesotho, in honor of their mothers. Sentebale is dedicated to supporting the most vulnerable children in Lesotho—those who are victims of extreme poverty or suffering due to the HIV/AIDS epidemic."

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a62353883/prince-harry-united-nations-new-york-lesotho-travalyst/

Harry was also speaking about his other initiative on sustainable travel, Travalyst. From Emily's article:

"He began the morning with an address at the Clinton Global Initiative, focusing on online safety as it relates to children, and in the afternoon, Harry attended an event marking five years of Travalyst, the nonprofit he founded, which focuses on sustainable tourism. He spoke for around ten minutes to a small gathered group about the mission, and future, of the organization. "Over the past two decades, I've had the privilege of working in conservation alongside communities that serve as the true guard of some of the world's most breathtaking and vulnerable places," he said near the start of his speech. "Through this work, I've seen firsthand how travel and tourism can be a double edged sword—a force that has the potential to do tremendous good or if it's managed inflicts serious harm."

Travalyst feels a bit adjacent to Harry's core mental health message, but is definitely in scope for the kind of wider philanthropy that he and Meghan are pursuing, e.g. with Archewell.

And I'm sure many will be absolutely thrilled to fricken bits with this Hello Magazine "EXCLUSIVE" article on Harry!

"Exclusive: How 'amazing' Prince Harry is making a difference as he steps back out in NYC.

"Prince Harry has been in New York City this week as part of a series of engagements for his patronages and philanthropic initiatives, including Travalyst, a program that aims to explore and improve conservation efforts at tourist destinations around the world."

"He was joined on stage by Aditi Mohapatra, Vice President of Global Social Impact and Sustainability at the Expedia Group, and Aditi told HELLO! how impressed she was by the Duke's commitment to use his platform for good.
"We were able to have a bit of a meet and greet with him, and his support and leadership for this organization is just so amazing," she told HELLO! after the panel, adding that Harry's willingness to publicly support the campaign "really provides the right kind of visibility" and offers "the right kind of leadership that we need" to "encourage action from the top".

https://www.hellomagazine.com/royalty/720264/how-prince-harry-making-a-difference-steps-out-in-nyc-exclusive/

Travalyst feels a bit adjacent to Harry's core mental health message, but is definitely in scope for the kind of wider philanthropy that he and Meghan are pursuing, e.g. with Archewell.

You cannot be SERIOUS! 😀

Harry's pretence of embracing any kind of sustainable travel is laughable.

I would genuinely (not sarcastically) like to hear about what actual, concrete, practical or monetary support Archewell has given. Isn't it basically a way of providing expenses for their trips and jaunts? (Craftily registered in Delaware, where the laws about charity financing are very, very lax). Serious question - we hear about it, but apart form speeches, mission statements etc - how is it helping folk? Do you have any figures?

Kinsey Schofield just issued a really sobering video about African Parks. Much more serious than her usual ones:

While we're on tangents, it's lovely to see real former and actual staffers of Harry and Meghan's Archewell, incl Josh Kettler, go on record to say the HR hatchet job on Meghan is a load of stale, badly-reheated old smearing BS which does not reflect their reality of working with her at all.

I'm obv not going to go down that utterly silly rabbit-hole, but it's worth a mention on this thread about even-keeled coverage of Harry at 40.

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/meghan-markle-prince-harry-staffers-talk-working-for-her-amid-rumors-excl/

Thanks @BemusedAmerican . That report is damning. Harry is on the board of directors of African Parks. He's responsible, and while he stays silent, in the words of his wife, he is complicit.

I know that Travelyst hasn't gone under, but it does seem a bit of a failure. It doesn't seem to have grown, and it never seems to figure in any discissions (RL, SM, MSM)

Or Meghan's has told all these staff to prove they have not breached their NDAs by going on the record to say nice things about her.

This "lady doth protest too much" article is a PR disaster. The HR article didn't say anything about her yelling at staff and engaging in criminal activity. This article brings both of these issues into the conversation. Why? "I didn't see her yelling at staff" means nothing. It's like saying, the sleazy boss didn't hit on me, so it didn't happen. Staff saying they are treated like children? How is that professional? And US Magazine is a low grade supermarket tabloid. I hope you are not comparing it to HR.

And why is MM planting this crap at the same time as her husband is in the spotlight on his own? Can't she let him have the limelight for once?

They also took money from the Royal Foundation and absorbed it into a private entity based in the states. If that had happened in the UK, the Charity Commission would have been all over it.

Delaware allows 95% of donations to be used on costs/expenses/salaries. Crafty indeed.

What happened to the $6m that Archewell received from Fidelity Charitable that has not shown up on Archewell's accounts?

@TallerSally
As Queen of the Harry Links,can you answer my question about Archewell?

Of course I can!

And of course I won't!

Archewell have an impact statement, you have advanced Googling skills, if you're in good faith you'll be able to connect the two!

What's an impact statement when it's at home?

I won't do the Googling - I'm asking you, as a fan of Harry, to convince me that Archewell does any actual good in the world. I'm sceptical - but if you as an enthusiastic supporter (and link-paster) can convince, me, fair play to you!

What's an impact statement when it's at home?

A load of mumbo jumbo?

This is a video from one of the numerous YouTubers who are both POC and critical of H&M (so no, not motivated by racism, not that any regular critics who post here are guilty of that either 🙄). She gives a good overview of Archewell's charitable giving since 2021, going through their returns and giving info on the orgs they donated to. It's not particularly impressive.

s

if you as an enthusiastic supporter (and link-paster) can convince, me

... all these years I've been searching for a purpose, something to give genuine meaning to my life and a sense of self-worth... Eureka!

I googled (I’m a bit under the weather so I’m resting). There are lots of facts and figures on the impact statement and it is a very glossy production, but the figures are a bit underwhelming. The highest figure mentioned is around 3000 hours of therapy for those affected by the earthquake in Türkiye and 2500 girls in Nigeria received menstrual products (doesn’t say how many products or how often). Other numbers of people “helped” are in the low hundreds or tens. It mentions high percentages who found their engagement helpful or useful, but it doesn’t mention what the base number for those percentages are. So all in all it looks quite impressive until you look properly 🤷‍♀️

... interesting to see how coverage of Harry's NYC trip is now being mostly blanked by the British media... a clear sign that it's a huge success! Shhhhhhhh.... can't admit that now, can we? 😂

Some more sensible coverage, this time from Fortune:

Prince Harry says kids have lost ‘free will’ to mindless scrolling

"Beyond supporting parents and youth throughout this advocacy, The Duke of Sussex stressed the need for corporate accountability. He asked why leaders of powerful social media companies are still held to the “lowest ethical standards” — and called on shareholders to demand tangible change.
“Parenting doesn’t end with the birth of a child. Neither does founding a company,” Harry said. “We have a duty and a responsibility to see our creations through.”
Harry’s contribution to this year’s CGI annual meeting was part of the “What’s Working” theme, in a panel that included former President Bill Clinton, Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton and World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres.
The Archewell Foundation, which Harry founded with his wife, Meghan Markle, to carry out their philanthropic work recently launched an initiative supporting parents whose children have suffered or died due to online harms. Harry highlighted the work of that initiative, called The Parents Network, in his speech Tuesday.
The foundation has also partnered with the World Health Organization and others to end violence against children, an issue he and Meghan outlined during a recent trip to Colombia. Harry on Tuesday pointed to the inaugural Global Ministerial Conference on Ending Violence Against Children, which is set to take place in Bogotá this November. He said that this meeting could result in the first global agreement for prioritizing child safety and protection online."

I'll be watching!

(lovely to see Chelsea Clinton in action again, alongside her dad, Harry and Jose Andres).

https://fortune.com/2024/09/24/prince-harry-social-media-kids-youth-mental-health-depression-anxiety-epidemic/

An impact statement for a British charity would be based on the figures of how many have been helped by the charity, in what ways and how long for. If they're giving grants or buying and donating things to other charities, there would be similar figures for how the recipient charity used the cash/items.

User feedback might also be included, along with any other output measures.

(I was going to link the Invictus Foundation one for comparison, but the page isn't displaying properly at the moment)

Impact statements would normally be read alongside the charity's accounts, so potential donors can see what services the charity is providing and the extent of their reach, and whether that seems a good outcome from the funds they are spending.