Hard to believe it’s been five years since Prince Harry and his wife Meghan left Britain to live in North America, first in Canada and then in Meghan’s home state of California. I hadn’t realised so much time had passed, mainly because I always felt the move was temporary and that they would return to live in Britain once again.
To my mind, it is a great shame Prince Harry is no longer part of the working monarchy. And not only because his presence would give them strength in numbers; the past year has exposed just how ‘slimmed down’ the monarchy has become, with both the King and the Princess of Wales taking time out for cancer treatment. I have always felt Harry brought something special to the role.
Having met him three or four times over the years, I found him unfailingly friendly, honest and genuine.
Watching him address a meeting of Commonwealth students, for example, I was impressed by his insistence that his was not a short-term presence; he wouldn’t make one speech and disappear. He would be there as long as they needed him.
I was struck by the similarity to his mother, the late Princess Diana. It seemed to me he spoke from the heart, just as she did.
In fact, there is much in his demeanour and approach to life that reminds people of his mother.
To some extent he has followed along the paths she laid out – the socially progressive causes, the passion for the charities she championed and her unrivalled ability to connect with people.
Meghan, too, could have brought a new dimension to the monarchy. By having a different background, perhaps she could have changed how the Royal Family is perceived by those who had never before felt a strong connection.
Yet it seems to me that precisely because of those differences, she never stood a chance of being accepted.
To be blunt, she is a foreigner: an American, a divorcee, a former actress – and black. She was never given a chance to prove herself.
The less-than-kind way some newspapers reported the news of her new Netflix show With Love, Meghan (from 4 March) reminded me why the couple had run from their British home in the first place.
Prince Harry’s own view is uncompromising. In his book, Spare, he outlines bluntly that once their fairy-tale wedding had ended they were subjected to waves of abuse, racism and lies, and had no choice but to flee the country.
His own difficulties with the media go back further.
Once the happy-go-lucky spare, he was overcome by grief over his mother’s death in a Paris road tunnel, for which he blamed the British press. He was so very young when Princess Diana died – only 12.
Walking along The Mall following his mother’s hearse he said he was surprised to see so many people in tears, since they never knew her. That is the comment of a child.
Everyone in the world knew why people were so grief-stricken, but to him she was simply Mummy.
One of the final meetings between Harry, his father the King, and his older brother William took place in Windsor. We have only Harry’s account of how that went. He says they were not on time, could hardly meet his eyes and never enquired in any serious way why he was thinking of going to America.
From where we are today, it looks almost impossible that someone could persuade Harry and his family to come back to Britain.
But I sincerely hope it can be done one day; we cannot afford to lose someone so young, so full of energy and so imbued with the charitable instincts that are at the core of our Royal Family.
