He should be over the moon awaiting the arrival of his first child with Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, but some friends are fretting that Prince Harry has become moody and brooding over the past few months—and that his frequent worrying, over the safety of his wife and soon-to-be-born child, has become all-consuming.
"The prince has been quite concerned for Meghan's safety and there is talk that's gotten to be something of an obsession with him," one royal insider told me. "He's also been a bit short with the people around the couple and taken charge in a way he hadn't done before."
Another palace insider points to the recent photos of Harry and Meghan out in London this week where the unsmiling prince is seen acting almost as a bodyguard for his wife. "He looks rather grim when he's not posing for the camera," said the insider. "All of this seems to have taken quite a toll on him."
It all started just days after Kensington Palace announced the couple would welcome their first child in 2019 just as the couple kicked off their 16-day royal tour of Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. During that trip, when Meghan visited the market in Fiji's capital Suva, she left after just seven minutes when her newly appointed bodyguard hurried the expectant mother out of the area due to fears over her security.
Harry, who was attending a separate engagement, was "quite upset" to hear that the crowds around his wife were not corralled prior Meghan's arrival to ensure her safety. Princess Diana's former protection officer, Ken Wharfe, wrote about the episode in a London tabloid describing the security arrangements as "chaotic."
Just this week, it was announced that Meghan's protection officer (unnamed because of security reasons) has resigned her post after only months on the job, and the search is on to find her replacement. "The Duchess felt the officer's presence was hugely constraining while Harry wants Meghan to be looked after every minute. All of that is adding to the prince's ill humor," said the source.
Friends point to the fact that Harry has said he felt powerless that he had been unable to protect Princess Diana from the aggressive media attention she dealt with and which he believes ultimately led to her death. He now worries constantly that Meghan could suffer the same "mistreatment by the media."
This is the primary reason Harry and Meghan have chosen to leave Kensington Palace and move to Frogmore Cottage on the grounds of Windsor Castle. "He wants to raise his family away from the glare of the media," one royal insider told me. "But he has to come to terms with the fact that he is part of the royal machine and the son of the most famous woman who ever lived. He is now married to a woman the entire world wants to get to know. It has been quite difficult for him, more difficult than people outside the royal family can ever understand." And for more on everyone's favorite royal couple, Prince Harry Reveals His Most Annoying Habit That's Driving Meghan Markle Crazy.
Diane Clehane is a New York-based journalist and author of Imagining Diana and Diana: The Secrets of Her Style.
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