In the wake of his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s impending funeral and other events, Prince Harry does not want the attention to be on him. Harry, a member of the military, was informed on Monday that he would not be able to attend any of the public memorial services for the queen while donning his official uniform.
The Duke of Sussex’s representative addressed the situation in a statement to ET on Tuesday.
“His decade of military service is not dictated by the uniform he wears,” the statement said. “We humbly urge that the focus stay on the life and legacy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.” Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex, will wear a morning suit throughout events honouring his grandmother.
The 37-year-old son of King Charles III and the late Princess Diana will not be allowed to wear his uniform to any of the official ceremonies marking the queen’s passing, including the vigil at Westminster Abbey, as was previously reported.
Harry was compelled to renounce his honorary military postings after retiring as a senior member of the royal family in 2020. The same thing happened to his uncle, Prince Andrew, who is currently being sued for suspected sexual misconduct and his association with Jeffrey Epstein, and who had his military credentials revoked in January 2022. But according to numerous sources, Andrew will be allowed to wear his uniform during the vigil at Westminster as a mark of respect for the monarch even though he won’t be allowed to do so at a number of other events.
This revelation was announced shortly after Harry paid his grandma a tender homage by calling her his “Commander-in-Chief.”
According to royal reporters Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand’s 2020 book, Finding Freedom: Harry and Meghan and the Making of the Modern Royal Family, Harry’s loss of his honorary military postings was the most difficult aspect of retiring as a working royal.
According to a source close to the marriage, “that’s been a terrible pill to swallow, and one that has been the most agonising for [his wife] Meghan [Markle] to observe him go through.” “It’s the one that got Harry all worked up,”
Harry is later recorded in the book as saying, “I am devastated that I am having to step down,” when speaking to a major at an event.
Meghan allegedly said of the decision to take away Harry’s military titles, “It was so unnecessary. And it’s not just taking something away from him; it’s also the entire military veteran community. So why? The powers [of the institution] are regrettably stronger than me.”
His most notable contribution to the veteran community is the founding of the Invictus Games, a sports competition for wounded servicemen and women. Harry is a retired serviceman who served in the Army for ten years, attaining the rank of captain and doing two tours of duty in Afghanistan.