Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle recently returned to New York City to attend the Salute to Freedom gala where the Duke of Sussex handed out medals to five U.S. military veterans on the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier. Despite his 10 years of service in the British Army, however, Harry didn’t wear his military uniform. There’s a controversial reason why he’s restricted from wearing military dress in spite of his very public record of service.
Prince Harry Back In The Big Apple
Prince Harry recently took part in the Salute to Freedom Gala in New York City. The British prince cut a dashing figure in his black suit while walking the red carpet with his wife Meghan Markle, who wore a dazzling red dress. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex also wore red poppies on their formalwear in honor of Remembrance Day, which is celebrated in Harry’s native Britain to honor armed forces members who died in the line of duty.
Though Harry also wore medals he’d earned during his 10-year career in the British Army, he didn’t wear his military uniform, which might have been expected since he was at the event to hand out medals to five very deserving veterans. After Harry and Markle decided to step back from their roles as working royals, the pair worked out a deal with the royal family to facilitate that change of status.
A Not So Great Deal For Harry
Reports claim that Harry had tried to negotiate in order to keep some of his honorary royal titles, including Honorary Air Commandant of RAF Honington in Suffolk, Commodore-in-Chief, Small Ships and Diving, Royal Naval Command, and Captain-General of the Royal Marines, but was ultimately unsuccessful in that endeavor.
This isn’t the first time that Harry’s inability to publicly wear his military dress uniform has caused some awkwardness. The royal family infamously decided no one would wear their military uniform for Prince Philip’s funeral in April to avoid giving the impression of a familial divide and any ensuing awkwardness.
Royal Commentator Disses Dismal Deal
Now there’s been renewed scrutiny of this controversial decision with a former royal correspondent, Charles Rae, arguing on GB News, “Now I’m surprised [that] Harry is going to not wear the uniform in America because he’s not representing the queen and to be fair to the lad he has served twice… he is a former soldier.”
Rae pointed out the mountain of work Harry has done in the past on behalf of wounded soldiers with the Invictus Games, which he’d founded. “He’s done a great deal of work with soldiers who are recovering from injuries they got while serving, and I see no reason why he should not be wearing his uniform for this event in America where he’s handing out medals to American servicemen.”
At least Harry was able to display some of his military accomplishments to the ceremony via his medals. The Firm might have been able to strip him of his honorary titles, but they can’t take away his years of service.