# Does anyone \*care\* about Prince Harry? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 16, 2005, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-care-about-prince-harry/284986 "2005-01-16T05:29:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-care-about-prince-harry/284986/61 "2005-01-18T17:53:27Z")
I don’t really care about Prince Harry’s doing, except in how they affect others: there is some push to [ban swastikas](http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20050118&hn=15774) in Europe. Now, I don’t know how far they will get with the proposal, but the Prince’s action is a pretty clear example of parody. Not to say that the rules of free speech are the same in the EU as in America, but this is one example where I think they should be. No one should be banned from exercising the right to whatever emblem they want to choose for themselves. If anything, it will help to out the troublemakers if they take themselves seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-care-about-prince-harry/284986/62 "2005-01-18T18:03:50Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > I think what pisses off a lot of British people is the behaviour of Harry and the type of company he keeps . You mean, victims of AIDS and tuberculosis, for instance? > [@](#): > > Prince Harry has met Africans living with Aids and TB on his gap year tour of Lesotho, Clarence House has said. > The 19-year-old prince also followed a village doctor on his rounds to see how locals dealt with the diseases. > > More than a third of people in Lesotho are thought to be living with HIV or Aids - making the south African country the world’s worst for infection rates. > > Harry has also helped build foundations for a new health clinic, completed a road bridge and dug trenches for crops. > > The visit was one of a number Harry has undertaken since arriving in Lesotho nearly three weeks ago. > > He also visited a home for traumatised children on the outskirts of the capital Maseru. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3527871.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3527871.stm) ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-care-about-prince-harry/284986/63 "2005-01-18T18:32:09Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > You mean, victims of AIDS and tuberculosis, for instance? > [BBC NEWS | UK | Prince Harry meets Aids victims](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3527871.stm) If you read that article I posted you will see that since coming back from Africa he seems to be running wild and out of control. Also I have the impression sometimes that this type of meeting with Aids victims is just a photo opportunity to get him some good publicity. For instance last week he and his brother spent a day packing Red Cross parcels for the Asian disaster. All the press and TV stations were there to report on this event. What he should have done was go there and worked with no publicity and not just for a day but for a couple of weeks at least. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-care-about-prince-harry/284986/64 "2005-01-18T18:44:48Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > What he should have done was go there and worked with no publicity and not just for a day but for a couple of weeks at least. Taking inspiration from Miller, how do you know that he doesn’t do charitable work away from reporters? You’ve put him in a Catch-22. If reporters show up, he’s an attention whore. If they don’t, he’s up to no good. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-care-about-prince-harry/284986/65 "2005-01-18T19:59:22Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Taking inspiration from Miller, how do you know that he doesn’t do charitable work away from reporters? You’ve put him in a Catch-22. If reporters show up, he’s an attention whore. If they don’t, he’s up to no good. All I can add is that when Harry on his own he might be a nice , well behaved guy. His troubles seem to arise when he gets involved in those upper-class morons mentioned in the article. His father (and probably other senior members of his family) should have been more involved in his upbringing. Perhaps when he finally joins the army in March he will see the error of his ways and become a nicer person. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-care-about-prince-harry/284986/66 "2005-01-18T20:39:03Z")
Join the army? Ah, I can see it now… “WHAT YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION, PRIVATE SAXE-COBURG AND GOTHA?” But I thought all the royals were supposed to join the navy? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-care-about-prince-harry/284986/67 "2005-01-18T21:30:21Z")
Join the Army they said! See the world they said! I’d rather be sailing! ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-care-about-prince-harry/284986/68 "2005-01-18T21:51:54Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > **Liberal** ’s post was quite clear. Most parlimentary democracies also have an elected president (Ireland, Austria, etc.), a king/queen (U.K., Japan, etc.), or some other sort of head of state (Canada’s governor-general). This person takes little to no action in the running of the government, instead mostly personifying the state on national holidays or at funerals. The U.S. system is relatively rare. Actually, the American system is quite an anomaly, given that presidents don’t generally have executive powers: for irony fans, the British monarchy is more like a hereditary presidency, while the American President is more akin to an elected “old school” monarch. This is reflected in Hollywood movies such as **Airforce One** and **Independence Day** , in which the President assumes a mythic “warrior-king” role: in Britain, where the Prime Minister is regarded as purely an elected official, any movie attempting to depict him or her as an action hero would be hooted off the screen. As for why the monarchy is still in place - well, for all its perceived inequalities, _it works_: the English had the sense to get their revolution over with in the 17th century, realise it didn’t work, and reinstate a monarchy checked by an elected parliament, which, compared with the rest of Europe {and indeed America: let’s not forget the Civil War}, has been a model of stability. My head says “Republic”, but my gut feeling says “Monarchy”: you don’t lightly tamper with a system which has worked, despite all unfairnesses and inconsistencies, for over three hundred years. What Harry did was stupid and tasteless and he deserves a clout around the ear for it, but it doesn’t really _matter_: hell, his grandfather Prince Phillip {the Queen’s husband, lest we forget} was born with his foot in his mouth, and it hasn’t affected the functioning of the monarchy one iota. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-care-about-prince-harry/284986/69 "2005-01-19T22:59:26Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Join the army? Ah, I can see it now… > > “WHAT YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION, PRIVATE SAXE-COBURG AND GOTHA?” Actually, as Cecil noted in one of his columns, that should be: “WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION, PRIVATE MOUNTBATTEN-WINDSOR?” ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2005, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-care-about-prince-harry/284986/70 "2005-01-20T07:15:37Z")
> [@42fish](#): > > Actually, as Cecil noted in one of his columns, that should be: > > “WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION, PRIVATE MOUNTBATTEN-WINDSOR?” Except he is going to Sandhurst , the officer training academy. So he will not be a private , but a Junior-Lieutenant. Never mind , it was a good joke. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-care-about-prince-harry/284986.md?page=3)