I was chatting with my All-British flight simulator guys today. The subject of Prince Harry came up. They insisted it was obvious that Harry was the son of Major Whathisname. A couple of questions:
Is this obvious to you?
As a practical matter, could this be concealed in this day and age of cheap and easy DNA testing? It seems to me to be a mere matter of time until some newspaper snoop gets a sample of Harry’s hair. Am I right?
So what? Even if it was certain Harry was ilegit, he could still assume the throne. Right?
It’s a very old rumour. Major Hewitt, as you could have Googled in a matter of seconds. One of Di’s several lovers that she took to console her for the fact that there were three in the marriage.
I should be astonished if this didn’t violate Harry’s civil rights if it were done without his leave.
The question won’t arise unless William dies childless. Then… well, once upon a time, civil war could have hinged on the question. But DNA or otherwise, I think Charles would have to repudiate him before Harry would be ruled illegitimate.
Harry doesn’t look anything like his brother or his father, or, for that matter, his mother. But that’s not unusual in a family, my own brother and sisters and myself don’t really look alike, nor like our parents, but there’s no doubts about our parentage.
All things considered, it’s no surprise people speculate on it, but really there’s nothing to really suggest it’s very likely. I think there are some good reasons to believe it is definitely not likely, something to do with when Diana and Hewitt actually first met.
Not obvious to me. Plus, I thought that the timeline was wrong. But I’ve never cared enough to look at that; just something someone said once.
As for DNA, they’d need to get something to compare it to. One of the more science-y types can explain, but I suppose that they wouldn’t need Charles to compare to; they could compare to any of the men in that line and just compare the Ys. So it’s not as simple as just grabbing some of Prince Harry’s DNA; they’d need someone else’s, too.
I don’t have an opinion on the third question. Just an observation, that it’s a shame that this is the legacy his mother left him. Despite the later hagiographic treatment, she wasn’t a very nice person.
He looks even less like James Hewitt, though. Really, apart from the reddish hair he looks nothing like him. It just seems to have grown out of a moronic Red Hair = Must Be Related thing.
We were just discussing this kind of thing at work and decided it must be an unconscious public nod to the British suspicion in gingers they’re known for. “Red hair? Can’t be one of ours.” His hair color makes acceptable the discussion of his parentage, where if he were blonde it would be seen as the gauche and crass thing it is.
Not just us. The French are even ruder about redheads. But you’re right, although it’s 99% played for laughs, there is just a trace of real prejudice against “gingers” here. Looks ridiculous now that I’ve typed it, but it’s true. We’re hair-ist.
There is no suspicion of ginger people in the uk. However, there is some evidence of an increase in gingers being bullied at school, partly because society is going to the dogs and partly because the fat, four-eyed, black or asian are no longer acceptable targets.
Regarding Hewitt and dates: for years he denied having met the Princess until Harry was a toddler, but about two years ago he changed his story, claiming the affair began very shortly after William was born.
I have no idea what that makes Harry, but in the olden days, that would have made Hewitt a cad and a bounder–not the fooling around, but the declaration that another man’s wife had been unfaithful. It used to be the one area of moral superiority of men over women: men did not kiss and tell. One more result of sexual equality.
Two years ago… was that about the time he engaged the services of noted publicist and reptile Max Clifford, maximiser of tabloid fees to the gentry since 1990?
I’ve not paid that much attention, but it doesn’t seem to me that Harry looks all that unlike Charles. I’m willing to believe that he’s legitimate, not that it matters much.
Has anyone else heard the theory that Victoria wasn’t legitimate? That she was fathered by someone carrying the hemophiliac gene? I’ve heard an idea that Victoria’s mother found her royal husband inadequate to the cause and took steps to remedy the situation, and that’s where the hemophiliac gene came from. But it wouldn’t be provable in any case, and I don’t know how crackpotty the theory is–which is why I’m throwing out here. It’s just something I’ve heard and I’m curious as to whether anyone else has heard it too.
I’ve seen pictures where, red hair aside, Harry is the spitting image of both Charles and Charles’s father.
The only person he doesn’t seem to look like is Diana.
I, of course, am not an expert, but it actually could be proven (whether Victoria’s husband wasn’t the father) but I don’t see why anyone would want to go to all the trouble and expense. (The hemophilia thing would also be a big help.) Forensic genealogical studies are quite accomplished now, i.e., being able to trace “African-American” lineage back to regions and tribes in Africa, and also tracing specific bloodlines for some historical figures.
I’ve always wondered why Harry looks so different from most everyone else (Charles and Harry’s browlines are similar though) in his family but left it at that. It’s nobody’s business (or possible heartache) but theirs.
They’re smiling, looking to the right, have teeth, ginger hair, eyes, a nose… apart from that, no I don’t see a resemblance. Somebody has obviously searched the library for similar shots of the two. You could easily come up with a comparison in which they look completely different. For example http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2273498.stm
I’ve always seen a clear resemblance between Harry and Charles. I think that the red hair, combined with Diana’s history and the tabloids’ love of royal scandal, has created the speculation.
and partly because the fat, four-eyed, black or asian are no longer acceptable targets.
