Prince Harry’s sad saga continues to diminish monarchy in NZ – Editorial
Anti-monarchists were given further reason this week to argue why King Charles should not be the head of state of New Zealand.
The abysmal back-and-forth over son Prince Harry’s planned visit to England gives greater clarity than Te Waikoropupū Springs.
The royal family’s ongoing scandals and infighting will, for many Kiwis, diminish the Crown’s relevance from our culture even further.
Harry, the Duke of Sussex, travelled to the United Kingdom this week and was considering bringing his wife, Meghan, and two children from California for the first time in four years.
The Prince is infamously no longer a working royal after Megxit, the term coined by the UK press for Harry and Meghan absconding to North America. As such, he is no longer entitled to UK taxpayer-funded police protection, which has proven to be a sore point for the son of Princess Diana.
We know the King offered Harry and his family accommodation at Buckingham Palace while they were in London, which would at least provide them with a secure base for their trip.
But this was never going to be a simple matter of lodging.
In Buckingham Palace’s version of events, it has been claimed, despite repeated “requests for clarity”, that no formal response to the offer had been received from Harry by last Friday’s deadline.
The palace claims that he and his team gave multiple indications that the accommodation at Buckingham Palace was unsuitable and formally knocked back the King’s offer on Saturday.
However, later on Saturday, the palace received a belated request from Harry to stay, it says.
A spokesperson for Harry gave a different version of events to the BBC and claimed the King’s son was under the impression he had accepted an offer to stay at Buckingham Palace, but that the offer had been withdrawn, something the spokesperson described as “disappointing”.
Clearly, the King and Harry are not on great terms, and because of that it’s hard to know what to believe, and who is at fault for the communication breakdown.
But one fact is clear.
Faced with the seemingly herculean task of finding a room for his son, and possibly their family, inside a literal palace, the King and his staff somehow couldn’t manage it.
This is the sort of petty spite between family members that does not sit well with most of us.
Last month, the Telegraph reported that support for the monarchy in the UK was at its lowest level in 30 years. Polling showed the most significant fall was among young people, with only one in three in favour of a royal family.
In New Zealand, there is still support for the royals, particularly among older generations, and there are no serious discussions about becoming a republic any time soon.
But with every further tiff or scandal, support among younger Kiwis for the royals will also diminish.