Will 2024 go down as Prince Harry’s annus horribilis?
The IndependentThe best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Play games, all the same stuff, someone brings a guitar – fun.” Oh, God, a Californian with a guitar, playing one of those slow, “sensitive” versions of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. “There are individuals working in the veteran community that are doing tremendous things to assist veterans, who do not have the money, resources, connections or privilege that Prince Harry has.” Still, at least there was the duke’s five-part Netflix documentary on polo, called, er, Polo. It was described by critics as “tedious”, “unintentionally hilarious” and “a load of old tosh”, which must have hurt, especially after Harry and Meghan’s deal to make podcasts for Spotify came to an end in 2023 after they had only made 12 shows, each one earning the pair over a million and a half dollars. In the aftermath of Trump’s election win, and with the promise of a “second term of vengeance”, rumours abounded that the Sussexes might seek sanctuary from presidential persecution, swapping California for Portugal.