I feel that spares in future will be given more flexibility if they want to partake in Royal work or not.
Perhaps, but not anytime soon. You only have to look a the fuss around Charlotte to know her future.
IIRC Harry even said in one of his interviews that his father gave him the options of doing something different but he Harry couldn't come up with much that would work, things like rugby coach and fireman. The first he could have done but perhaps not the 2nd. The BRF were surprised that he wanted to take up official royal duties in 2015, before William and Kate did, there was talk in the press that Charles and HM would have been happy if Harry had stayed in for 20 years like Andrew to have something for himself.
If they had wanted to step back and do other things (which was their right) then I think they may have got more of a half in, half out. But they
specifically wanted to make money off being royals.
When did H say this? I thought that back in the first year or so of ther marriage, there were a few reports in the paper that they might go to Africa,.. so presumably, if this is true, they were in talks with Charles and the queen about taking some time off royal work and getting away from the royal duties.... but the plans failed. Never heard of Harry saying that specific jobs - actual jobs, had been mentioned?
There is a painful truth that everyone seems to ignore because it is so ingrained in the monarchy and that is the role of the spare. Spares were invariably encouraged to join the military and certainly not be sent to the front lines before the heir had not only married but had both an heir and spare himself.
The second to last (Bertie) married and had two girls but, such is life, Unfortunately, he had not even been trained as his fabulous brother and POW had and it was a supporting loving wife and family that had his back when the worst came to the worst. He became the King.
Princess Margaret's life was pretty restrictive until her sister had the obligatory heir and spare and then she had nothing. No path, no aim, nothing except marriage. Her life was not a happy one.
After that, I would have imagined that Andrew would have some foundation in real life but that was also not to be, he dutifully joined the Navy and became a Navy pilot and along came the Falklands war which he was able to take part with his peers and after twenty years he was now 'the redundant spare' and once redundant, was aimless.
Now Harry, obligingly joined the Army by choice and loved it. But by the time the tabloids finished his first deployment and he determinedly re-branched the Army Air Corp where he acquitted himself well. Unfortunately, after the war, the Army didn't know what to do with him as he was far older than the average Apache Pilot and the men he had initially trained with had served on the ground and been promoted. He was too old for his present slot and too junior an officer to mix easily with his former peers. Needless to say, he baled on a made-up job in Whitehall pushing paper.
But, as with his predecessors, he was out of the army with only one avenue in which he had any experience so he told his family he was ready to become a working royal. Little did he know that there was little interest in the BRF for that as William was not yet a working royal and I guess that was not a good look so he was surplus to requirements in the British Royal Family until his brother joined them and so Harry was unprepared and untrained to live a life outside of either. Instead of encouraging him to do or start anything on his own, he was pushed out as the third wheel to his brother and sister-in-law.
The only thing that could not be taken from him like the foundation he and William had set up, was Sentabale and I believe that was only because it involved African royalty and the Invictus Games.
Taking a back seat to William was one thing, but being stopped from making his own way within the parameters the BRF had established created ill feelings that came to a head when he presented MM as his future bride. While he had, accepted and fully embraced Catherine it was not unreasonable to expect that his brother and best friend would do the same. He did not. The rest, as they say, is history but reasons, causes, lack of planning and ruthless execution of their aims, would Valentine Low ever acknowledge that a monarchy run by Courtiers will inevitably spell an end to the BRF and the UK as a Constitutional Monarchy?
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/jan/21/prince-harry-afghanistan
Now please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought it was Charles and William who didn't want to meet with Harry for fear of it ending in the media yet Harry's fear of exactly that pre-dated their actual leaving. It is no wonder everyone is paranoid if they have to explain themselves to their Private Secretaries before they spend time with their family members.
