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JANE ATKINSON
It’s a shame Harry’s not a ‘living legend’ to Royal Family – Kate & Charles’ woes show how streamlined it’s become
Harry and Meghan would have been perfect to plug the gap if they hadn’t ditched royal duties
AS Prince Harry was picking up the ridiculous bauble of “living legend of aviation” on Friday night, his father was planning how he could swiftly get back to work after his prostate operation.
And one of the reasons the 75-year-old King needs to do that is because his youngest son has dumped his duties.
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This week it became glaringly obvious how small the new, modern, streamlined Royal Family has become since disgraced Andrew was forced to step down from duties and bitter Harry headed off for sunny California.
Charles faces an operation on his enlarged prostate, Kate faces weeks of recovery from abdominal surgery and William is temporarily stepping down from royal duties to help look after his wife and young children.
Although the Queen is continuing to work, she will surely want to be at Charles’s side as he recovers.
That leaves just six of our ten working royals doing their job full-time. And let’s face it, without Kate, Charles and William in the mix, the star pulling power is lacking.
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Harry and Meghan would have been perfect to plug the gap if they hadn’t ditched royal duties.
But it was clear how far apart the disloyal royal really is from his family at the awards bash in Beverly Hills, where he was honoured for his time as a helicopter co-pilot and gunner in the Army.
While there, he paid tribute to his late mother Diana. But there was not a single mention of his ill father.
The duke was described as a man who has “dedicated his life” to advancing causes he is passionate about and which bring permanent change for people and places.
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But this “living legend” clearly hasn’t dedicated his life to the family who gave him every ridiculous advantage.
He first abandoned them, then tried to torture them.
And this is probably why Charles, shortly after getting his crown, unsurprisingly ruled that only the key working royals could ever stand in for him.
That means the likes of Harry, Meghan, Andrew, Beatrice and Eugenie can’t step up to the plate — even if they wanted to.
The absence of the key players shows how fragile the Royal Family is without them, and just how important they are.
I hope their time away makes us appreciate them a little bit more, because it would be devastating for this country if they weren’t there to fly the flag for us.
I know there are plenty of naysayers who think we would be better off without what they call a money-grabbing, lazy, blue-blooded clan born to privilege.
But let’s look at what they mean to people.
Each and every walkabout they conduct, or event they attend, can transform lives.
After Kate and William met Windrush elders, the organiser described it as “heart-meltingly beautiful” for them to meet the future King.
This week, Tony Hudgell, the little boy who suffered such horrific abuse at the hands of his birth parents that he lost both legs, described Kate as his “No1 fan”, and his family said she was a “superwoman”.
We have seen Kate consoling a sobbing girl who she met in Windsor, and have seen a little girl throwing her arms around Charles as he was doing his bit for a conservation charity.
And look at the finances. The average annual cost for royal upkeep comes to around £1.30 a year per person. But in the same time period, they contribute £2.5billion to the economy.
That is thanks to foreign visitors coming to see historical royal landmarks and hoping for a glimpse of the family themselves.
The royals’ charitable work is invaluable. Charles alone has established more than 20 charities, including The Prince’s Trust. He and Camilla are patrons or presidents of nearly 500 organisations.
William’s work spans mental health, conservation, homelessness, veterans’ support and healthcare.
And devoted mum Kate, our real jewel in the crown, works tirelessly to help young children.
Like Diana before her, she has an ability to be regal in a crown one day and down-to-earth in a tracksuit playing with her children the next.
Thanks to Andrew, Harry and Meghan no longer doing their duties, royal fans have been able to see a lot more of her, too.
She and the rest of the working royals have had to take on their engagements — conducting more than 2,000 last year alone.
The Royal Family gives stability and continuity to this country. It helps give us a sense of unity and pride.
I hope Charles and Kate make a speedy recovery and I hope the new, improved Fab Four are soon back out in force.
It is only when they are not around that we finally truly realise what we are missing.
Extra training could bring City’s Kyle to heel
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THERE is scientific proof that a dog always remains loyal and loving to its owner.
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So nobody can really blame Annie Kilner for replacing cheating hubby Kyle Walker with a (very cute) furry friend after his affair with Lauryn Goodman.
It could be worth taking the footballer along to obedience classes with her.
He might learn something.
Safiyya is so brave
MY heart goes out to Safiyya Vorajee, who lost her daughter Azaylia Diamond Cain to leukaemia in 2021 when the baby was just eight months old.
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This week, her ex Ashley Cain announced that he had become a dad again to a baby son and revealed his name was Aliyas Diamond Cain.
I’m sure it is seen by him as a special mention to his daughter. But I imagine the similarity in the name is heartbreaking for Safiyya, who had always hoped she and Ashley would one day have another child together as a full sibling to Azaylia.
Amazingly, this week Safiyya went to her daughter’s grave and spread positivity to her followers on social media.
She is an inspiration and I hope she finds happiness again soon.
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SOME might turn their nose up at it, but a newly launched doner kebab breakfast from the German Doner Kebab company sounds utterly amazing.
The £5.99 delight features a roll or wrap loaded with chicken or beef plus egg, spring onions and tomato. What’s not to love?
Sounds like the perfect hangover cure to me.
Unfair fares
IT made my blood boil to read commuters pay up to twice as much to buy train tickets at machines compared to online.
That is according to research by consumer group Which?
I have the misfortune of travelling with Avanti every week from London to Manchester, dealing with strikes, delays and overcrowding. But at least I have the cheapest ticket possible because I go to ridiculous lengths, often buying two (sometimes three) separate tickets from different apps.
But what about all those people, including the elderly, who use the rip-off machines without realising it could be costing them double. Travellers on public transport have enough to deal with and being ripped off by the fat-cat companies shouldn’t be added to the list.
Build skills a must
THE homeowners who bought on the housing estate near Cambridge where 88 houses have had to be bulldozed because of “absolutely shocking” defects and dodgy foundations must be totally gutted.
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They must also be relieved the faults were discovered before they moved in and the roof caved in on them.
But you’ve got to wonder how those houses were pretty much finished before the faults were found. The properties are part of a new-build estate of about 1,500 homes, which I imagine won’t be snapped up any time soon.
There is both a shortage of housing in the UK and people to build them. It is so bad that the Government has put brickies, carpenters, plasterers, tilers and roofers on their shortage occupation list and has relaxed migration rules for foreign workers to come here.
But this new-build housing disaster shows that now, more than ever before, we need home-grown, highly trained apprentices to be joining the building trade, or there could be more people living in houses that should have been ripped down.
The consequences are terrifying.
Moan's a joke
YOU’VE got to wonder what is happening in today’s society when nearly 100 shocked parents complain about a joke made by Alison Hammond on This Morning.
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They contacted TV regulator Ofcom over the quip made about “naughty” children watching the show at home.
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Why bother wasting your time over something so trivial?
Unless, of course, it hit a nerve.
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