Prince Harry just celebrated a milestone birthday last week, but now it’s time to get back to business. In what is a particularly busy month for the estranged Royal, the Duke of Sussex has a packed couple of weeks ahead of him as he heads to New York to attend UN Week and Climate Week back to back. But there’s just one hitch: wife Meghan Markle won’t be by his side.
Traditionally, the Sussexes would attend important events like these together, but more and more often Harry seems to be making his public appearances by himself. Later this month, for example, he’ll be returning to the U.K. to host an awards evening for a children’s charity he supports, but Meghan won’t be joining him. Clearly, these individual instances are part of a bigger shift in the couple’s relationship as the duke and duchess elect to give each other more space.
Prince Harry appears in public with the Queen of Belgium as he “carves out” new future
Harry kicked off his solo stint in New York by making an appearance at an all-star lunch organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday, Sep. 23. Unusually for the duke in the U.S., he wasn’t the only member of a royal family in attendance. Queen Mathilde of Belgium was also at the lunch, and she and Harry seemed to get on famously. Photos showed the prince and the 51-year-old queen, wife to King Phillipe, sharing a fond greeting.
Other notable attendees include Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, as well as senior officials from such countries as Sweden, Canada, Iceland, Zimbabwe, Georgia, and Colombia — which Harry only just visited with Meghan in August. Outside of royals and heads of state, Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker likewise showed up for the classy assemblage.
But, while Harry is wining and dining with the cream of society, what is at the root of his newfound desire to go it alone? The Sun‘s Phil Dampier alleges that Harry’s solo excursions are “significant” as it intimates that he’s looking to “carve out” his own niche and seize on a more “fulfilling” role for himself on the global stage. Dampier even opined that appearing alongside his wife all the time made Harry little more than a “spare part.”
“It is significant that he is doing so much on his own now. They are living more separate lives as it looks like Harry is trying to carve out what exactly his future is. I suspect Harry has been feeling very much like a spare part. He wants more fulfilling roles for himself so we may well be seeing more of him here.”
Obviously, Dampier’s opinion seems to skewer deep into anti-Meghan territory, so feel free to take his reading of the situation how you’d like, but there is increasing evidence that the sussexes are keen to explore their own enterprises these days. Not least that they’ve made their own Netflix shows, rather than another joint production, with Harry’s own due to hit streaming this December.
Published: Sep 23, 2024 02:34 pm