British TV viewers were treated to a bizarrely irrelevant piece of royal TV last night: at the very moment when nobody wants to know anything about Prince Harry that doesn’t contain the words ‘Las Vegas,’ ‘pool party’ or ‘naked’, ITV went ahead with a long-scheduled program about the attempts of five wounded veterans from the charity Walking with The Wounded, of which Harry is patron, to scale Mount Everest.
The programme had a reverential feel which felt profoundly odd given the scandal of the past week, but we must not forget that just a few months ago, young Henry was being awarded honours by Colin Powell and the Atlantic Council for his work as a great humanitarian.
I know, I know.
Harry said in the doc: “I think to give yourself a challenge on such a magnitude as climbing Everest is remarkable. But what these guys are proving is no matter what your injury, no matter whether you’re military or civilian, you can overcome injuries.“I feel as though I’m just one of the guys regardless of whether I work for my grandmother.“I feel like I have a connection with these guys, whether it’s because I’m in the military as well or I know their stories and I’ve spent time with them.“What these guys are proving is things don’t stop there because this, actually, weirdly has opened doors for them that they never thought would be opened to them.”All true, and Harry still has buckets of charm, but it was also plainly apparent that his Vegas clowning has seriously undermined his credibility.