In a revealing new interview with Newsweek magazine, Prince Harry has spoken out about juggling the demands of royalty with his desire for a ‘normal life,’ suggesting that no one in the royal family actually wants to take the throne.
‘We are involved in modernising the British monarchy,’ he told the magazine. ‘We are not doing this for ourselves but for the greater good of the people.’
‘Is there any one of the royal family who wants to be king or queen? I don’t think so, but we will carry out our duties at the right time,’ he continued.
This statement from Harry, who is currently fifth in line to the throne (behind his father Prince Charles, older brother William and nephew and niece Prince George and Princess Charlotte) could potentially cause controversy: it marks the first time that a royal has publicly voiced a reluctance to ascend to the throne.
Harry also spoke frankly about the 1997 funeral of his mother Princess Diana, when the 12-year-old Prince joined his older brother (who was 15 at the time), his father, grandfather and uncle Earl Spencer as they walked behind her coffin in a funeral procession.
‘My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television,’ he said. ‘I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today.’
The Prince revealed that he tries his hardest to live an ‘ordinary life,’ telling the magazine: ‘I do my own shopping. Sometimes… I worry someone will snap me with their phone. But I am determined to have a relatively normal life, and if I am lucky enough to have children, they can have one too.’
‘Even if I was king, I would do my own shopping.’
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