Tags
Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, Elizabeth II, HRH The Prince of Wales, kings and queens of the United Kingdom, Las Vegas, nude pictures, Prince Harry, Queen Elizabeth II, Ryan Lochte, TMZ
I usually feature a royal on Thursdays. Today I will feature Prince Henry of Wales…or Prince Harry as he is known but I won’t be featuring him in the usual biographical style I have been doing. Instead I want to address the recent nude pictures released by TMZ.
Prince Harry, third in line to the throne of Great Britain, was stopping over in Las Vegas en route to California for an award or something to do with his charities..sorry can’t remember the details and can’t find that source. Anyway, after some partying and swimming with Olympic Gold Medalist Ryan Lochte (a guy from my hometown) and having too many intoxicating beverages he invited some scantily clad young ladies up to his room so they could dress even more scantily. Well, being that we are in the age of modern technology, with the proliferation of cell phones with cameras and the internet, things like these don’t stay secret for long.
The photos have now flashed around the globe but per the request of Clarence House the British Press is not printing them, although the people of Britain are not being denied the opportunity to see the Prince in all his glory covering the crown jewels, they are just a mouse click away. The Prince is heading home where I am sure his father, The Prince of Wales, and his grandmother the Queen may have a thing or two to say to him. I have scoured the internet reading opinions and viewpoints on message boards and blogs trying to gather my thoughts before I made a comment.
In some ways I wonder if we are making something so small (wink, wink) into something bigger than it really is (again, wink, wink)? Early reports are that it hasn’t done any damage to the royal family. I think people understand that at 27 years of age the prince is going to do what many single young men either do…or desperately want to do. Since this is a blog dedicated to royal history I can tell you none of this is really shocking. In times past single and married princes and kings..and even singled and married princesses and queens were very human when it came to sexuality…and they acted out in similar ways in which prince Harry has. The sad part is that he was careless and trusting when he was in a vulnerable spot. He showed trust where that trust had not yet been earned.
Harry has always been a bit of a wild child and he reminds me of Princess Margaret. Growing up the Queen was always the studious and mature one, much like Prince William, and Margaret was the party girl, much like Prince Harry. So I think this is well within his character and not unusual behavior whatsoever. It does show that Harry is not ready to settle down yet. Who knows, maybe this will be a lesson or step along that direction.
Although there doesn’t seem to be any back lash right now one of the points people have been making is that the monarchy is funded by tax payers and that in these difficult economic times people may not appreciate seeing a playboy prince living the high life. So my larger concern is for the monarchy itself. While I think this will blow over and fade into the back of our minds within a short while, I worry that if we have too many of these types of things (nudge, nudge to the York sisters) I do not think the populace would approve of this type of behavior.