For some, Prince Harry is an asset that the Royal Family is still sorely missing after all this time, even though the Duke of Sussex has fallen in popularity rankings inside the UK
The Royal Family might be missing a trick by not bringing Harry back into the fold, some argue. When Prince Harry appeared on Late Night TV in the US, he was met with mixed reviews. Some royal experts weren’t too impressed, with one even dubbing it “insensitive” for the Duke to have taken part in the comedy show, whilst major events were taking place for the House of Windsor.
However, some commentators felt that Harry’s easy charm during his time on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert – and the enthusiastic way he was greeted by the audience – made it all too clear that the Royal Family has lost one of its major assets. Before stepping back as a working royal nearly six years ago, Harry regularly scored highly in the approval ratings with the British public – but these days the polls tell something of a different story.
Harry is currently lingering around 34 per cent in the latest. YouGov approval ratings, with his wife, Meghan, at 25 per cent. For context, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor scores only a measly 13 per cent approval, and Princess Kate – who tops the royal charts – has a score of 68 per cent.
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But for one commentator, it’s Harry’s ability to connect with young people that has been the biggest loss to the British monarchy. On average, the age of working royals is now in the late 60s, and polls indicate that the Firm is struggling to connect with the younger swathes of the British public.
According to the National Centre for Social Research, more than half of Brits want to keep the monarchy in place, 58 per cent, but generationally there is an ever-increasing divide on this topic, with younger people favouring the idea of having an elected head of state over a king or queen.
Of those aged between 16 and 34 years old, just under 60 per cent of Brits would prefer to scrap the monarchy altogether. Compared to the 76 per cent of those aged over 55 who strongly support continuing the monarchy, it paints a stark picture for the Firm.
For many, it raises the question of how the Windsors will broaden their appeal amongst the younger generations and shore up the institution’s future. For columnist Simon Kelner, writing for the i Paper, bringing Harry back into the fold would do a great deal to help the Royal Family out in this regard. “If those who seek to shape the Royal Family’s image and commercial appeal, and who talk about ‘Brand Windsor’ and ‘The Firm’, want to succeed in a multi-media landscape, they would do well to put their arms around Harry again.
“Like all the world’s great brands, the Windsors need to extend their relevance across all demographics, particularly a younger one. Harry can do that by speaking to an audience that is deaf to the stentorian tones of speeches at Windsor Castle. He can speak the language of TikTok as confidently as King Charles can speak German. I guarantee there will be those in power who recognise this, and will be keenly anticipating the day when Prince Harry is welcomed back into the fold.”
Not everyone agrees, however. Tom Sykes, editor of the Royalist newsletter on Substack, wrote about the appearance, which saw Harry take aim at US President Trump: “I think the Royal Family has no real choice. Harry believes he’s free to speak his mind now that he’s no longer a working royal.
“I think if he were truly living as Harry Wales, a private citizen, that argument would hold water. But he isn’t Harry Wales. He’s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. And in the American imagination, he still carries the full aura of a prince — a representative of the monarchy.
“A global audience does not grasp that Harry isn’t still a part of the Windsor family business. Charles and William may be hundreds of miles away in Balmoral or Windsor, but in the American mind, they are standing just offstage as Harry delivers his punchlines.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.mirror.co.uk ’
