Is it just me or is the melodrama over Prince Harry’s paid speech in Toronto really forced? Harry is due in Toronto today to give a (paid) speech at the OREA Powerhouse, a convention for real-estate people based in Ontario. Harry will reportedly speak on leadership and service. When Harry and Meghan exited the UK, one of the first things they did was sign onto a service organizing paid appearances and speeches for celebrities, politicians and public figures. Meghan has already done a handful of paid gigs, and I bet Harry has as well, although his are hidden in plain view because they are associated with his charities and non-profits (in my opinion).

All of which to say, there’s no shame in making paid speeches or earning an honest living. But “Old Etonians” and “royal sources” have been screaming and crying about this speech for weeks. One Old Etonian sniffed to Richard Eden, “I’m not sure how much I would pay to hear Harry hold forth on housing supply in Canada.” A royal source cried: “Harry and Meghan gave up their message of service and leadership when they left Britain and their royal duties behind. Presumably, they will now give speeches to whoever pays them.” I can feel an entire nation’s bum-clench from here. Well, Tom Sykes had a lot to say in his Royalist Substack just before Thanksgiving. Some lowlights:

It is hard to think of a sadder symbol of Prince Harry’s slide from global change-maker to rent-a-prince than the news that he will on Monday take the stage at a Canadian real estate conference, a pay-to-play gathering designed to hash over Ontario housing policy, zoning permissions, and the intricacies of local supply shortages.

His office did not respond to a request asking why he was doing the OREA Powerhouse event, but in the absence of him developing a newfound passion for leasehold reform, it seems reasonable to assume that the Duke of Sussex, who once strode into war zones and whose mother opened the world’s eyes to the horror of landmines, is keen to make a buck. I hope for his sake he is on a flat fee, not commission, because, at $500 CAN (the equivalent of about $300) a ticket, the event hasn’t sold out, despite Harry’s presence.

The absurdity of a royal prince who has spent the vast proportion of his life living rent-free in grace and favor mansions and who knows nothing about Ontario property markets speaking at a conference for Ontario realtors is hard to overstate.

There is a bleakness to the conference website’s sell: See Prince Harry in person. Not hear him, not learn from him. Just see him. The irony of a man who spent years railing against being commodified by the media now voluntarily compressing himself into a life of paid appearances is inescapable. It must be deeply depressing for him and his team, who, not long ago, were dreaming he could change the world. It didn’t have to be like this.

I do wonder how this story will play out over the years ahead. I’ve never previously bought into the “they’re broke” line, especially when Harry gave over a million dollars to charity earlier this year. But if they are not broke, then why would Harry be taking embarrassing paid speaking gigs like this one? I also wonder whether the couple’s enormous Montecito property (the upkeep of which, in that part of the world, where it costs $1000 to get a guy to mow your lawn) is beginning to feel less like an asset and more like a liability. The echoes of the unaffordability of Royal Lodge for another spare, Prince Andrew, are all too apparent.

Is the money coming in no longer matching the money going out? Paid appearances at events like this certainly feed a perception that the Sussexes need cash, a perception reinforced by the fact that the stated credentials of Harry on the OREA Powerhouse website—“service leadership, resilience, creating positive impact”—feel like boilerplate corporate mush slathered over a more straightforward transactional arrangement.

Harry’s allies will always tell you that Harry is happy being a dad to two small children, happy in the California sunshine, and making plenty of money, thanks. I’m sure it’s all fine, in its way. I’m sure Harry and Meghan can still make more money in an afternoon than I can make in a year. But that doesn’t erase the tragedy of Harry and Meghan, which is that they could have been magnificent, and they threw it all away, for this.

[From The Royalist Substack]

Sykes spends a chunk of this piece wringing his hands over “what could have been” if Harry and Meghan had stayed in the UK – a monarchy transformed in their image, truly! That talking point is always bizarre to me. One of the biggest reasons why they left was because William and Kate were literally trying to force them out of the country, and Charles and Camilla were (like W&K) crazy-jealous of the Sussexes’ youth, beauty and popularity. Harry and Meghan wouldn’t have been “allowed” to transform the monarchy because they were being attacked, smeared and slandered at every turn. The Sussexes could have done so much for the monarchy!! Yeah, we know. Harry and Meghan know that as well, and it was one of their big arguments for a half-in solution. Those people should have treated them right in the first place.

As for the money… my god. I’ll say it again, but it really feels like royal reporters and commentators have no sense of money, how much things cost, and what it’s like to genuinely take well-paying gigs not because you “need” the money, but because you don’t like leaving money on the table. A microcosm: sure, I don’t need an extra $5000, but if someone offered me five grand for half a day’s work, no strings attached, I would take it in a heartbeat. Because money is money, and you don’t leave money on the table.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.