Prince Andrew's daughters are the grandchildren of a monarch, and so their titles are not an 'exception.'
The James Hewitt nonsense is trotted out because the media enjoys scandal and making stuff up. From all accounts, Diana PofW gave birth to Prince Harry before she ever met Hewitt and subsequently began an affair with him. Harry was born in September 1984. Diana met Hewitt in the summer of 1986. Some of Prince Charles' friends are said to have started the malicious rumor of Hewitt having fathered Prince Harry, which greatly upset Diana because of how the unfounded rumor could hurt her youngest son. Obviously, Charles knows the rumor is not true, as do other members of the royal family who are aware of the timeline of Diana's association with Hewitt. And yes, quite obviously, Harry bears some facial resemblance to his grandfather, Prince Philip, particularly visible in pictures of the younger, bearded Philip.
Meanwhile the royal tour down under is garnering rave reviews.
Excerpts from Roya Nikkah in
London Sunday Times:
"A triumphant tour of Australia by the prince and his newly pregnant wife ensures he will be central to his father’s vision for the Windsors’ future.
The rapturous reception accorded the Duke of Sussex and his pregnant duchess in Australia has confirmed that even the most trenchant of monarchy-mockers can be vulnerable to a royal baby bump, especially when it is sported by a mother-to-be as cheerfully photogenic as the former Meghan Markle...
Even Gladys Berejiklian, the premier of New South Wales, who declared last year that 'Australia should have an Australian head of state', swiftly succumbed to the Sussex charm offensive. 'My impression of them is of an amazing couple who demonstrate a deep compassion for fellow human beings and causes they believe in and they’re people of substance,' Berejiklian gushed. 'I hope they regard Australia as a safe place for them, somewhere where they are loved and adored.'
All of which helps to explain why the Sussexes, however distant from the throne, will remain central to Charles’s vision of a modern royal family... Even though [Harry] is not in the direct line to the throne, Charles sees Harry and his family as an essential part of that core monarchy... the Prince of Wales can see the impact they are having on this tour in [an Australian] realm with which [Great Britain] has a tricky relationship."
From the
London Standard:
"Later that day [Harry] would make his speech to the assembled dignitaries, the veterans and sportsmen, the press and the public. But today he had an audience of one — or, as we now know, two: sitting on a chair in the front row, watching him intently, was the prince’s wife, Meghan.
The scene was — forgive me for my choice of words — pregnant...
It was at once touching and a little melancholy: the emptiness of the venue gave a stronger sense than any crowd does of the vast ceremonial spaces in which these people, a young man and his new wife, live their strange lives.
And a sense of how far he’s come — from the little boy plodding along behind his mother’s coffin, the flashbulb-stunned tumbler-out-of-nightclubs, from naughty Harry, dirty Harry, Harry the lad, lost Harry … This Harry has been to war, got himself a wife and is now on the brink of fatherhood... Imagine the lifetime passed being looked at, imagine the endless sea of strangers’ faces, turned towards you, that will accompany you almost everywhere you go. Talk about being alone in a crowd. And imagine too what, in that lifelong stadium of empty chairs, it would mean to have one face, one particular face, that looks to you from the crowd each time and knows you for yourself ..."
Following their stay on Fraser's Island, in Queensland, Australia, where Duchess Meghan took some time off to rest, the Sussexes will be flying to Fiji for a number of celebrations, including a State Dinner...
In fact, who knows what changes will happen to the British monarchy once QEII passes. I think William and Harry revere their grandmother, the Queen, and respect their family's royal traditions. But I don't think any of the royals would be upset at moving on into the sunset to enjoy their private lives without all the excess public scrutiny. They would not be giving up their wealth, just the burden of public duties and criticism about the public paying for the pomp and circumstance, which it seems that William and Harry probably wouldn't be too unhappy to forego in the future. I think Prince Charles has grown up with the old-fashioned royal trappings though and identifies more strongly with those traditions. However, Prince Charles' expressed wish to pare down the monarchy is likely in keeping with his caution about the public's view of the monarchy, particularly how it might be viewed once the Queen is no longer the esteemed and legendary figurehead.
There's always speculation surrounding the royals, unsurprisingly. And we never do know for sure about any gossip or published reports until official confirmation.
because they're all fairly huge and crown like.
