This is why Prince Harry is the most popular: everything he did before anyone else
His marriage to an American actress, mixed race, divorced and older than him once again defies the norms and confirms him as the coolest guy in any European crown.
Often the way to measure the popularity of a member of a Royal House is to get out of the picture and analyze the extent to which his personality and presence conquer even anti-monarchists. Prince Harry (London, 1984) is one of the examples that this practice works. As if it were a transgenerational product designed to perfection, it has something to conquer every section of the population: its sweetness and kindness cajole parents, its privileged physique to women and a few men, its gallantry to athletes, its defense of various causes to philanthropists and supporters, and their rebellion and out-of-tune in the past to those who do not trust the institutions. Furthermore, he is the most traveling member of the British royal family, so as an ambassador he is priceless.
There is something about Harry that conquers everyone, but only Meghan Markle (Los Angeles, 1981) has conquered him. The announcement of his engagement earlier this week with the American actress has made him the star of the week, although he is used to being the star of almost every week. Year after year, polls rank him as the favorite member of royalty for the British. And because? Perhaps because he is the one who goes off the script in one of the strongest institutions in the world. Here we go over some of those outings, listing everything he did that no other royal had done before.
The first royal to be tested for AIDS in front of the cameras
In July 2016 Prince Harry took a big step in raising awareness of the fight against AIDS and instead of organizing charity events, giving a speech or visiting a hospital, he took the test himself on camera and broadcast it on Facebook Live, through the official page of the British Royal Family.
The first royal to speak publicly about the depression he suffered
A depression caused by not digesting for many years the death of his mother, Diana of Wales, in 1997. He said it at an event organized by the Heads Together foundation, which he created with his brother Guillermo and his sister-in-law Kate Middleton and is dedicated to help people with mental problems. "I really regret not talking about it [referring to the death of his mother]," he said during a talk. And he added, "Once you get people known to everyone to step up and talk about it, that should pave the way for the rest of the people to do it." And also: "It is not about weakness, weakness is recognizing that something is happening to you and not talking about it."
The first royal to show their butt
And of doing it the result of betrayal when he was naked in a private environment, all is said. It happened in Las Vegas during the summer of 2012 and was probably Harry's biggest scandal and the one that made him settle down. The photos spread like wildfire on the Internet, but the British Royal House banned their publication in print media in the UK. What did the tabloid The Sun do? Hire a model with the same physical complexion who posed exactly the same and get it on the cover.
The first royal to travel to space, probably
A dedicated fan of the Star Trek saga, some media announced in 2011 that Harry had been interested in Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic project, the dream of the English millionaire to send ordinary citizens into space, and had asked him to be a of the first people to try it. The millionaire's project has been postponed for years and, according to him, could be ready for 2018.
And the first of royalty to conquer the South Pole
He did it on December 13, 2013, after four weeks and 300 kilometers traveled with the association Walking with the wounded ("Walking with the wounded"). The expedition faced temperatures of -45 degrees Celsius and winds of 80 kilometers per hour. With him, by the way, were actors Dominic West (The Wire) and Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood).
The first royal to have a personal Facebook profile that we know of
Precisely after the scandal in Las Vegas, concerns for Prince Harry's privacy and security increased and he was recommended to delete his Facebook profile. But wait: can Facebook have an heir to the British royal crown? Yes, but no: his name was Spike Wells and his profile pictures were things like a porcupine, the lemur from the movie Madagascaro a red-haired boy pulling his hair with a text that said: "Oh God, I am red! ".
The first royal to collect an award from an LGTB organization
He succeeded in the awards of the British magazine Attitude, aimed at the LGBT public, in October 2017. The prince collected a posthumous award in honor of his mother, Diana of Wales, and her work to raise awareness and fight against AIDS. Harry attended the gala and gave an emotional speech remembering the deceased princess: "When my mother shook hands with a 32-year-old man with AIDS in front of the cameras she knew exactly what she was doing. She was using her position as Princess of Wales , the most famous woman in the world, to encourage everyone to educate themselves, to find compassion in us and to reach out to those who need help instead of distancing ourselves. "
The first royal to release a statement defending his partner from the press
On November 8, 2016, after Prince Harry had been in a public relationship with Meghan Markle for months, Kensington Palace released a statement from Lady Di's youngest son defending Markle from attacks by the press, which at times touched on racial harassment and sexist. "Meghan Markle has been the target of abuse and harassment. Some of this has been very public: the slander on the front page of a national newspaper, the racial subtext in opinion pieces; and the indisputable sexism and racism of trolls on social media and in the comments of the webs ". The Daily Mail, for example, ran a racist-tinged article on November 2, 2016, detailing the neighborhood Meghan grew up in, focusing solely on the crime and drug addiction rate in the area. The headline could be translated as "Harry's girl comes from the ghetto."
The first royal to marry a mixed-race woman
The role of a monarchy is symbolic in a society and that is precisely why the messages that he sends are very important: that Harry marry a mixed-race woman (Meghan Markle's mother is African American) is a genuine change. The British magazine The Spectator defined this revolution better than anyone: "70 years ago Meghan Markle would have been the woman a prince would have as a lover, never as a wife." By the way, he is also the first British royal to marry a divorced woman. When Edward III married Wallis Simpson she was not divorced yet (almost worse: she was married).
