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If you want to know why Prince Harry has it, here it is. You can't teach this, and it doesn't come with title or rank or wealth. You either have it or you don't, and he does, in absolute spades.
In 2015, while visiting Sydney, he spotted an old lady in the crowd. More to the point, he spotted the Victoria Cross she was wearing. So he went over, crouched down by her wheelchair and asked her about it.
Her name was Daphne Dunne, she said, and she was 95 years old. The Victoria Cross had been awarded posthumously to her first husband, Lt. Albert Chowne. He was only 25, and they’d been married just a year, when he was killed in an heroic attack on a Japanese machinegun post in Papua New Guinea. The news had reached her at the same time as the red roses he’d arranged to be sent for her birthday.
“We [Harry and I] were chatting for a little while,’ Daphne said later, ‘and then they kept saying to him, ‘We’ve got to go. We’ve got to go.’ He didn’t worry about that. He just continued on with what he was doing which was talking to me and then when he started to go, he gave me a kiss on the cheek.’
Two years later, when Harry came to announce that Sydney would host the 2018 Invictus Games, Daphne was there again. ‘He does a lot for everyone but he seems to dote on soldiers that have been wounded, and they’ve had some part of them amputated, that’s the reason, it doesn’t matter about me, he helps make them feel a bit better.’ She waited in a downpour, a coolbox of beer on the ground by her wheelchair – very important to come prepared to events like these – and when a soaked Harry spotted her he embraced her as though she were his granny. He made her, almost literally, feel like a queen.
And now he’s back in Sydney for those Invictus Games, which begin on Saturday, and yesterday he found Daphne for the third time. As he and Meghan did the meet and greet of fans outside the Opera House, he spotted Daphne and ran over to her. ‘I was looking for you earlier and hoped you’d be here. It’s so good to see you again.’ They chatted for a few minutes. ‘I’ve seen your shoes, they’re very cool,' he said. 'Have you dyed your hair a shade of pink?’
Sure, these are small things in the grander scheme. But look at the pictures. Look at the joy and tenderness on their faces. Dislike his title and privilege if you must, but at least credit him with what he has – a great emotional intelligence and a sprinkling of genuine stardust.
In 2015, while visiting Sydney, he spotted an old lady in the crowd. More to the point, he spotted the Victoria Cross she was wearing. So he went over, crouched down by her wheelchair and asked her about it.
Her name was Daphne Dunne, she said, and she was 95 years old. The Victoria Cross had been awarded posthumously to her first husband, Lt. Albert Chowne. He was only 25, and they’d been married just a year, when he was killed in an heroic attack on a Japanese machinegun post in Papua New Guinea. The news had reached her at the same time as the red roses he’d arranged to be sent for her birthday.
“We [Harry and I] were chatting for a little while,’ Daphne said later, ‘and then they kept saying to him, ‘We’ve got to go. We’ve got to go.’ He didn’t worry about that. He just continued on with what he was doing which was talking to me and then when he started to go, he gave me a kiss on the cheek.’
Two years later, when Harry came to announce that Sydney would host the 2018 Invictus Games, Daphne was there again. ‘He does a lot for everyone but he seems to dote on soldiers that have been wounded, and they’ve had some part of them amputated, that’s the reason, it doesn’t matter about me, he helps make them feel a bit better.’ She waited in a downpour, a coolbox of beer on the ground by her wheelchair – very important to come prepared to events like these – and when a soaked Harry spotted her he embraced her as though she were his granny. He made her, almost literally, feel like a queen.
And now he’s back in Sydney for those Invictus Games, which begin on Saturday, and yesterday he found Daphne for the third time. As he and Meghan did the meet and greet of fans outside the Opera House, he spotted Daphne and ran over to her. ‘I was looking for you earlier and hoped you’d be here. It’s so good to see you again.’ They chatted for a few minutes. ‘I’ve seen your shoes, they’re very cool,' he said. 'Have you dyed your hair a shade of pink?’
Sure, these are small things in the grander scheme. But look at the pictures. Look at the joy and tenderness on their faces. Dislike his title and privilege if you must, but at least credit him with what he has – a great emotional intelligence and a sprinkling of genuine stardust.