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OpinionThe Sussexes

Why Prince Harry has every right to visit Meghan Markle

This is an opinion piece by Royal Central’s Deputy Editor Jamie Samhan 

Once again, Prince Harry and his girlfriend, Meghan Markle are making headlines. This time the controversy stems over should Prince Harry have taken a detour to Toronto before heading back to London after his 2-week Caribbean tour.

According to The Telegraph, their biggest issue is that Prince Harry broke Royal conduct set in 2004 after the line between business trips and private trips became fuzzy. At the time the Royal Household said: “Members of the Royal family are entitled to grant-in-aid for official travel, as are their staff and, where capacity permits, other officials.

“They meet their own costs, however, for private travel. In order to avoid confusion, combining private and public engagements in the same trip is actively discouraged.”

So this is going to be my first point, nowhere in that statement does it say it is forbidden, only “actively discouraged”. Prince Harry did pay for his own trip to go to Toronto so people can’t be angry with him for that, it has been argued that the taxpayers then had to pay for his police protection officer (PPO) to head to Toronto. Yet, had Prince Harry gone back to London and then Toronto, the taxpayers would still have to pay for that PPO and flights work out to almost exactly the same cost.

Costs aside, many of the media are upset that Kensington Palace told them that Prince Harry would be heading right back to London from Guyana. Did they have the right to know? The tour was now over and Prince Harry was off duty, he has explicitly said in the past that his private life was his and wants to enjoy his relationship with Miss Markle without the world judging his every move.

It is Kensington Palace’s job to ensure the balance of the royals life and the media just had two-weeks coverage where Prince Harry was on top form, so why would telling the media that he was on his way back to London be such a big deal when everyone knows Prince Harry would have a massive waiting party at the airport or Miss Markle’s apartment as soon as anyone found out?

Lastly, if you have ever been in a long distance relationship you know how difficult it can be. Every minute you can spend together will make or break the relationship. So let’s give Harry a break, shall we? Let love win for once and give these two the chance to figure out what is meant to be without being criticised for wanting to spend some time together.

Do you agree? Or should Prince Harry avoiding controversy and headed back to the U.K? Let us know in the comments below:

 

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