Tom Petty once sang that “it’s good to be king,” but this is a feeling that is surprisingly not shared by the members of Britain’s Royal Family.
That’s one of the many revelations shared by Prince Harry in an extraordinary interview with Newsweek, in which he opens up like never before on a wide range of topics.
In the interview, Harry makes the shocking claim that neither he nor his brother, Prince William, are eager to take the throne. “Is there any one of the Royal family who wants to be King or Queen?” he asks. “I don’t think so, but we will carry out our duties at the right time.”
He also opens up about how he was affected by the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, when he was just 12. The trauma of losing his mother, he shares, was compounded when he was forced to walk behind his mother’s coffin in the funeral procession, something that he admits has left him psychologically scarred to this day.
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“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 says.
“I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today.”
In the extensive interview, Harry also discusses recent attempts to bring about an evolution of the British monarchy.
“The monarchy is a force for good and we want to carry on the positive atmosphere that the Queen has achieved for over 60 years, but we won’t be trying to fill her boots. We are involved in modernizing the British monarchy. We are not doing this for ourselves but for the greater good of the people,” he says. ‘The Queen has been fantastic in letting us choose. She tells us to take our time.”
Yet despite being one of the most famous people on the planet, Harry admits his life is more “ordinary” than one would imagine. He credits Diana for teaching him and William the importance of remaining grounded — and reveals that he does his own shopping. “People would be amazed by the ordinary life William and I live,” he says. “Even if I was King, I would do my own shopping.”
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