In many ways, Harry and Cressida seemed ideally suited. They were a good match not only physically and in terms of background, but also in terms of interests and outlook. The word in aristocratic circles was that Mary Gaye was keener on her daughter marrying into the Royal Family than Cressida was, but since Cressida and Harry seemed to be so well matched, and so good together, everyone crossed his or her fingers and hoped there would be no slips between the cup and the lip.
Cressida, however, was struggling under the harsh glare of the press’s attentions. When she appeared on Woman’s Hour, she highlighted some of the difficulties. ‘I think it’s that thing of being pigeonholed. Especially in this country, I find that people are very quick to put you in a box, or put you in a corner, and think “Oh, well you’re that so you must be this”. It’s incredibly frustrating.’
She was confronting the reality that friends of mine, who could have married into the Royal Family when they were her age, had also faced. Unless you were so gut-wrenchingly in love with the man that you would sooner be pilloried than live without him - and unless you knew with complete certainty that you would remain so in love with him that the torture of being royal would be endurable - or you were so ambitious that you’d endure the heat no matter what - you had your day in the sunshine, got scorched, and headed for shelter and the Camomile lotion.
By 2014, Cressida was ready for the shade. She and Harry parted on amicable terms, just as he had with Chelsy, both of whom would be asked to his wedding. She then quietly returned to her previous boyfriend, Harry Wentworth Stanley, another tall, good looking second son, whose mother is the present Marchioness of Milford Haven, wife of the head of the Mountbatten family, of which Prince Harry’s line, Mountbatten-Windsor, is a distaff branch. She remained on such good terms with the royals that she attended Harry’s wedding to Meghan and Princess Eugenie’s to Jack Brooksbank last year.
By this time, Harry was something of a hero with the public. His first deployment to Afghanistan, as a Forward Air Controller in Helmand Province, had come to a sudden end when the German newspaper Bild and the Australian magazine New Idea had breached the embargo concerning his presence. Disappointed that he was being forced to abandon his men, but understanding of the danger his continuing presence would place them in, he was airlifted out before the Taliban had a chance to attack. Frustrated and disappointed at how his posting had ended, he was nevertheless pleased to be presented with the Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan by his regiment’s Colonel-in-Chief, his aunt Anne the Princess Royal, at Combermere Barracks.
Aside from loving the structure, discipline, and camaraderie of the Army, one of the greatest delights of that life for Harry was that he was just another human being. His royal status made no difference, except occasionally as a preventative, stopping him from being assigned postings, or being able to accept assignments, that would endanger his fellow-troops if it became known that HRH Prince Henry of Wales were involved. The challenge, for him and his superiors, became how to carve out a meaningful role for himself which would give scope to his abilities without exposing his fellows to increased danger.
Like his father, brother, and uncle, Harry then became a helicopter pilot, which is how he came to be posted to Afghanistan a second time. This time, there was no secrecy, his assignment being announced beforehand in an act of confidence and defiance by the British authorities. His arrival at Camp Bastion, for a four-month posting as a co-pilot and gunner for an Apache helicopter, was greeted by the Taliban, whose spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told Reuters, ‘We are using all out strength to get rid of him, either by killing or kidnapping. We have informed our commanders in Helmand to do whatever they can to eliminate him.’
It was obvious that there was little likelihood of the Taliban succeeding. Camp Bastion was as secure as Fort Knox. By making the announcement the way they did, the Taliban had set themselves up for failure. The British and American press thrilled to Harry’s presence, which did as much for morale amongst the Allied troops in Afghanistan as it did for Harry’s reputation in England.
Harry’s status as a brave soldier consolidated his popularity and helped to enlarge his options both as an Army officer and a prince. These, however, did not include more tours of duty in battle zones. His presence was too risky for all concerned, so to his disappointment he was quietly transferred to a staff officer’s role at Army headquarters in London. His office was in Horse Guards, and his duties included helping to coordinate Army significant events in London. This might have been a disappointment to someone who liked getting himself dirty in the trenches, who loved nothing better than mucking around with the men, but it was also an opportunity to leave his mark in a creative way. Unlike Charles and William, whose position as immediate heirs to the throne made their roles relatively easy to define, Harry, being a second son, had more scope. Within reason, he could do what he wanted. The role of spare could provide opportunities that an elder son could not have, if only he had the imagination and commitment to avail himself of them.
What Harry did next covered him in glory, and showed that his humanitarianism
