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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/27/the-guardian-view-on-prince-harry-the-monarchys-best-insurance-policy
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| The Guardian view on Prince Harry: the monarchy’s best insurance policy | The Guardian view on Prince Harry: the monarchy’s best insurance policy |
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| The Queen is 91. The subtle process of managing the inevitable transition in a way that embraces both the integrity of the crown and its capacity to change inched ahead on Wednesday when Prince Harry guest-edited the BBC’s Today programme. There was a time when this would have been unthinkable, and not only because it is not the sort of thing that either institution does. The auxiliary members of the royal family often have the greatest capacity to inflame public scepticism about monarchy, and Prince Harry once seemed determined to personify the entitlement and pointlessness that could have jeopardised the continuity of the crown. But now he is reinvented; he is on the way to establishing himself as the official interpreter of an ancient, archaic institution to the generations that are already distant in both time and culture from the world that sustains his grandmother. Not many people nowadays would set out to invent monarchy. The skill of palace PR management, since the low point in 1997 when Princess Diana died and the Queen momentarily failed the test of public empathy, has been to present the business as an institution with enough continuing value to discourage republicans from uninventing it. | The Queen is 91. The subtle process of managing the inevitable transition in a way that embraces both the integrity of the crown and its capacity to change inched ahead on Wednesday when Prince Harry guest-edited the BBC’s Today programme. There was a time when this would have been unthinkable, and not only because it is not the sort of thing that either institution does. The auxiliary members of the royal family often have the greatest capacity to inflame public scepticism about monarchy, and Prince Harry once seemed determined to personify the entitlement and pointlessness that could have jeopardised the continuity of the crown. But now he is reinvented; he is on the way to establishing himself as the official interpreter of an ancient, archaic institution to the generations that are already distant in both time and culture from the world that sustains his grandmother. Not many people nowadays would set out to invent monarchy. The skill of palace PR management, since the low point in 1997 when Princess Diana died and the Queen momentarily failed the test of public empathy, has been to present the business as an institution with enough continuing value to discourage republicans from uninventing it. |
| The audience profile of the Today programme in no way resembles the millennials whose support the monarchy needs to survive into the prince’s generation. All the same, he turned the programme into an effective showcase for the skills he can bring to his difficult role as constitutional appendix. He managed to conduct interviews with the least cool global figure – his father, Prince Charles – and the most cool, Barack Obama, in a way that allowed them both to look as good as they could. Only last summer, at the time of the 20th anniversary of the death of their mother, the promotion of the princes looked as if it might have been partly intended to squeeze out Charles. The filial interview on the Today programme felt like compensation. Prince Charles reminisced about his early understanding of the threat of climate change, and hoped people no longer thought he was “potty”. There was an obvious affection between father and son that may partly have been intended to counter his reputation for chilly distance. In the effort to make Charles a widely acceptable king, lovability would be a necessary ingredient. | The audience profile of the Today programme in no way resembles the millennials whose support the monarchy needs to survive into the prince’s generation. All the same, he turned the programme into an effective showcase for the skills he can bring to his difficult role as constitutional appendix. He managed to conduct interviews with the least cool global figure – his father, Prince Charles – and the most cool, Barack Obama, in a way that allowed them both to look as good as they could. Only last summer, at the time of the 20th anniversary of the death of their mother, the promotion of the princes looked as if it might have been partly intended to squeeze out Charles. The filial interview on the Today programme felt like compensation. Prince Charles reminisced about his early understanding of the threat of climate change, and hoped people no longer thought he was “potty”. There was an obvious affection between father and son that may partly have been intended to counter his reputation for chilly distance. In the effort to make Charles a widely acceptable king, lovability would be a necessary ingredient. |
| Prince Harry may yet turn out to be the crown’s best insurance policy. By marrying Meghan Markle, he is linking royalty with a 21st-century celebrity who has a backstory that many people in Britain can identify with. She shares his unquestionable commitment to the subject of mental health that brought a contemplative quality to the long conversation with President Obama that is often missing from public debate. | Prince Harry may yet turn out to be the crown’s best insurance policy. By marrying Meghan Markle, he is linking royalty with a 21st-century celebrity who has a backstory that many people in Britain can identify with. She shares his unquestionable commitment to the subject of mental health that brought a contemplative quality to the long conversation with President Obama that is often missing from public debate. |
| The inner cost of life in the public eye, and the defences that public figures must erect to survive it, was so pervasive that the programme sometimes had the air of a three-hour mentoring session: Anthony Joshua talked about “staying with the people” in the steps of Muhammad Ali. Trevor Rose, who runs the Community Recording studio in Nottingham, another Prince Harry project, talked about his work building trust among young people. Thoughtfulness and compassion are always precious qualities. They should be treasured wherever they are found. | The inner cost of life in the public eye, and the defences that public figures must erect to survive it, was so pervasive that the programme sometimes had the air of a three-hour mentoring session: Anthony Joshua talked about “staying with the people” in the steps of Muhammad Ali. Trevor Rose, who runs the Community Recording studio in Nottingham, another Prince Harry project, talked about his work building trust among young people. Thoughtfulness and compassion are always precious qualities. They should be treasured wherever they are found. |
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