You Won’t Believe The Moment That Made Harry Hate Being A Royal 》

From the outside looking in, being a member of the Royal Family seems pretty sweet. You’re rich and famous from the day you are born, and you never have to worry about little things like getting a job or (if you’re King Charles) even putting your own paste on the toothbrush. Of course, fame is a double-edged sword: your whole life is constantly under scrutiny, and you’re always just one crazy party or candid moment away from having the whole country (and sometimes the whole world) trying to cancel you.

That’s something that Prince Harry discovered the hard way. He loved to party in his youth, and the tabloids made him out to be some drunken rascal who lived only for sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Later, he married Meghan Markle, which made him one of the biggest magnets for controversy in the entire world. Interestingly, though, these weren’t the moments that made Harry hate being a royal.

What was the first moment he reconsidered being a member of the Royal Family? Keep reading to find out!

The prince was a young rebel

These days, Prince Harry is considered a very dignified figure. Sure, marriage to Meghan Markle has made him pretty controversial (more on that very soon), as has his self-imposed exile to the States. Still, between personal projects like his memoir and his support for wounded veterans, he always manages to project that aura of calm elegance that Americans associate with “Prince Charming.” Unfortunately for Harry, that aura doesn’t really work on anyone who remembers when he made tabloid headlines as England’s most rebellious prince!

When he was still in the British equivalent of high school, Harry built a quiet reputation for his habit of drinking and partying when he should have been studying for his exams. When Charles caught Harry smoking weed at the tender age of 16, he sent the young man to a drug rehabilitation center; it didn’t take, however, and he ended up skipping university and taking a gap year filled with partying before joining the military. Things got worse when he entered his ‘20s: Harry was caught punching photographers and attending a costume party while wearing a swastika. All of this culminated in an incident in late 2012, where Harry was photographed naked while attending a raucous party with his friends.

Prince Harry’s marriage made him a magnet for controversy

That wild Las Vegas party made both Harry and the Royal Family look like drunken fools. However, it had one silver lining: after making scandalous tabloid headlines all around the world, Harry decided to treat this incident as a wake-up call. He stopped acting like a crazy frat boy and finally started acting his age. More important (at least, in the eyes of his stern father), he finally started acting like the son of England’s heir apparent.

However, Harry still had just enough of a rebellious streak in him to choose an extremely unconventional wife. He fell in love with Meghan Markle, best known as a star of the legal drama Suits. The reasons she was an unconventional choice for the prince were that she was an American and had been married once before. But the heart wants what the heart wants, and Harry decided that nobody would keep him away from the woman he loved.

That included his brother, Prince William. In his later memoir, Harry alleged that William objected to his relationship with Meghan so fiercely that the two had a physical altercation. It’s possible that William was just looking out for his younger brother, though: Meghan (and, by extension, Harry) proved very unpopular in England, and she even managed to rub the royals the wrong way. This led to her and Harry actually stepping down from royal responsibilities and fleeing the country, eventually settling into a (relatively) quiet life in America.

The death of Princess Diana made Harry reconsider royal life

Many were absolutely shocked that Harry was willing to leave his family and his country to live in America with Meghan. He still had his title, but he didn’t have nearly as much money, especially after Charles reportedly cut him off (that’s why he and Meghan suddenly started cutting so many media deals). Still, the whole thing seemed nice and romantic. How many people, after all, would lose most of the perks of being royal, all for the sake of love?

As it turns out, though, love made Harry want to stop being a royal a long time ago. As People reports, Harry recently opened up about how the sudden and shocking death of his mother made him wish he were no longer part of this famous family. “I was like, ‘I don’t want this job. I don’t want this role — wherever this is headed, I don’t like it,'” he said. “It killed my mum, and I was very much against it, and I stuck my head in the sand for years and years.” This is likely an allusion to his days as a party prince making headlines all over the planet.

Fortunately, Harry clung to royal life because he embraced a mission that would have made his famous mother particularly proud. He hopes to use his royal status “to make a difference in the world.” And if that’s not downright inspirational, we don’t know what is!