Why is Prince Harry in China?

Whenever you read about the latest international escapade of Prince Harry’s, it is hard not to think of the famous words said about the Scarlet Pimpernel, the evasive hero of Baroness Orczy’s novel:

‘They seek him here, they seek him there
Those Frenchies seek him everywhere
Is he in heaven or is he in hell?
That damned elusive Pimpernel’

Swap out “Frenchies” for “international news media,” and “Pimpernel” for “Duke of Sussex” and you’ve got a pretty good insight into the constant fascination with the activities and actions of the king’s youngest son. And it is surely no coincidence that, just when his father heads to Canada on a high-profile and diplomatically important visit, the not-so-damned elusive prince himself has popped up in China, of all places, in what is apparently his first ever visit to that country. That he is trying to overshadow his estranged pater seems inevitable. Nothing that Harry (or indeed his fragrant wife) do these days is coincidental or accidental.

His stated pretext for appearing in Shanghai was not, it must be said, the most regal of reasons to visit that troubled country. Harry is, we now learn, co-founder of a company called “Travalyst,” which is said to promote environmentally friendly forms of travel. (I would dearly love to know if the duke used a private jet or first-class airline service to travel to the country from Montecito.) Still, “Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Travalyst Founder,” as he was so grandiloquently billed by his hosts, delivered a brief speech that was the usual mixture of buzzwords and clichés.

‘Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Travalyst Founder,’ as he was so grandiloquently billed by his hosts, delivered a brief speech that was the usual mixture of buzzwords and clichés

He stated that “Climate change isn’t just an environmental challenge – it’s a critical business emergency, costing the global economy $143 billion dollars annually. Now is the moment for the industry to reaffirm its commitment to being a force for good.”

There was a bit of self-reference, perhaps even a dig at his estranged family – “Challenges will undoubtedly rise, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my life, it’s that meaningful change never comes easily” – and then Harry delivered his usual self-aggrandizement to the no doubt enraptured audience. “The true measure of our commitment is how we respond when the path becomes difficult. We must never give up.”

It is increasingly difficult to know what is going through Harry’s mind when he delivers these platitudinous addresses, other than how much money he will be paid for his brief appearance. Does he honestly not think that the hoary summoning of the old Invictus spirit – master of fate, captain of soul and all that jazz – sits somewhat at odds with his petulant and deeply unfortunate antics? Over the last few months alone, his Sentebale charity has descended into chaos, he has been denied – presumably for the last time – leave to sue his country’s (and his father’s) government, and he has been publicly informed by Donald Trump, of all people, that he will not be deported from the United States for the drug offenses that he mentioned in his memoir Spare on the grounds that “he’s got enough problems with his wife.“

Harry has dealt with the slings and arrows of reputational calumny with his usual calm and stoic demeanor. That is to say, he and his well-exercised PR flacks have issued press releases, and there was a high-profile BBC interview a few weeks ago that gave him his usual bully pulpit to criticize his family. Yet compared to the dignity and statesmanship that his father is currently demonstrating in Canada, Harry’s attention-seeking Chinese antics are now looking like too little, too late. Is he in heaven or is he in hell? Neither; he’s in Shanghai, miserably selling his wares, and presumably wondering how, exactly, it all came to this.