Harry’s Lighthearted Words Reveal the Toll of Lifelong Scrutiny
Prince Harry didn’t hold back when addressing rumor’s about his marriage to Meghan Markle, though his candid remarks hinted at deeper personal struggles, according to one royal expert, reported by the Mirror.
During a recent sit-down interview with the New York Times, the Duke of Sussex laughed off the ongoing speculation about his relationship. He also spoke about why he and Meghan have been attending work engagements separately more frequently.
Harry addressed the rumours head-on, jokingly brushing them aside: “Apparently we’ve bought or moved house 10, 12 times. We’ve apparently divorced maybe 10, 12 times as well. So it’s just like, what?” he said to Andrew Ross Sorkin, the columnist hosting the event.
Despite Harry’s lighthearted dismissal, royal author Hugo Vickers believes his comments revealed the weight of the constant public scrutiny he faces. Speaking to The Sun, Vickers explained, “[Harry] said that all the pundits must be very disappointed, and he felt sorry for them that none of these things actually happened. What else can he say? He must be roundly fed up with all the kind of speculation that’s been going on over his whole life, ever since he was a little boy, so in that respect, I sympathise with him.”
Vickers went on to clarify that Meghan and Harry’s decision to occasionally work solo likely has little to do with marital problems. Instead, it’s part of a deliberate strategy that allows both to play to their individual strengths.
“They’re always playing to their particular skills. They’re also always having to reinvent themselves. They’re always having to try and keep focused in the public eye,” Vickers said.
Harry’s remarks align with what he has shared over the years about the toll public scrutiny has taken on him. In his memoir Spare, Harry spoke at length about the role assigned to him by the media and how it affected his mental health.
“I’d been cast in my role in the Rolling Royal Melodrama. Long before I was old enough to drink a beer (legally) it became dogma. Harry? Yeah, he’s the naughty one. Naughty became the tide I swam against, the headwind I flew against, the daily expectation I could never hope to shake,” Harry wrote.
He reflected on how this label stuck with him through every mistake and misstep: “I didn’t want to be naughty […] but every sin, every misstep, every setback triggered the same tired label, and the same public condemnations, and thereby reinforced the conventional wisdom that I was innately naughty.”
Harry’s comments serve as a reminder of the challenges he has faced living under constant scrutiny—a burden that has shaped much of his life.