Prince Ricardo De La Cerda
NO ONE likes being beaten in their own back yard, do they?
So I imagine poor Harry and Meghan came close to choking on their cornflakes when they opened their newspaper on Thursday morning to read that Prince William had been crowned America’s favourite public figure.
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The Sussexes ran off to the US three years ago to escape their “pain and suffering”.
Now the Montecito moaners can’t even beat William — who Harry described as his “arch nemesis” in his memoir — in a popularity poll in the country they now call home.
Perhaps the even greater snub was the fact that the pollsters didn’t even bother to put Harry and Meghan on the shortlist.
They’ll no doubt assume the whole thing was rigged or set up by shadowy figures in The Firm to embarrass them.
Could it have been organised by her estranged father, or by his estranged father?
After all, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you.
But there he was. William, top of the list. The most popular international public figure in the eyes of Americans.
Even beating Volodymyr Zelensky, the brave and passionate leader of war-torn Ukraine. Now that takes some doing.
And the fact that Prince Harry lives in the States and seems to have been on a one-man mission to damage the reputation of the Royal Family makes it even more heartening that Americans can see the good side of William.
Harry has done his best to trash his older brother, even accusing him of lumping him in a fight over (guess who?) Meghan.
“He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor,” he wrote in his book Spare.
But the attacks failed to work — because the Wills we all know is positive, honourable, and dignified.
He’s also a grafter, passionate about the many causes he supports, without lecturing or virtue-signalling.
William puts Crown and country above his own personal gain.
He and his wife, Catherine work tirelessly to support the many causes that are dear to their heart.
He is a man of substance. Harry simply does not garner the same level of respect.
Which is probably why pollsters didn’t even bother sticking him on the list.
It’s a sad state of affairs for those of us who followed the brothers’ lives when they were young boys, adored by their beloved mother.
As Harry grew older we forgave his many teenage indiscretions because he had inherited Diana’s twinkly charm.
There’s little of that on show now, as he snipes from the sidelines about the harm he believes has been done to him.
Now he has entered the realms of trashiness — a person who has shamelessly sold his story and his wider family up the swanny — in the process of sharing his “truth” with the world.
His big brother, on the other hand, has done us all proud.
WE all know that the NHS is in bad shape.
But the news that four in ten cancer patients are facing deadly delays to their treatment is particularly alarming.
This year was the worst on record for cancer care and it seems that things are going backwards rather than forwards, which is very concerning for anyone worried about their health.
Research estimates that every four-week delay in cancer surgery increases the risk of dying by up to eight per cent, which is a sobering statistic indeed.
THOSE images of mountaineers clambering past a dying porter who had fallen made me feel somewhat queasy.
Mohammed Hassan had fallen off a sheer edge on the mountain K2 in Pakistan.
It later emerged he had taken on the job of rope fixer to pay for his diabetic mother’s medical bills.
Austrian climbing duo Wilhelm Steindl and Philip Flamig said footage they recorded using a drone showed climbers walking over his body instead of trying to rescue him.
The party involved insist they did everything they could to save Hassan but conditions were too dangerous to move him.
This story paints a devastating portrait of people so set on attaining their goal that they forget about basic humanity and kindness.
I COULDN’T be more delighted for Sally Phillips, who has found love again after her husband ran off with another woman.
With good humour, the actress joked: “My husband left me for a member of the Russian Yoga Federation, though I’m not legally allowed to say that any more, but he won’t listen to this.”
What a horrible and demoralising experience that must have been.
So how fabulous that the Miranda star – who was married to director Andrew Bermejo for 14 years – has moved on with a fella she describes as being “to die for”.
Her ex’s betrayal must have been devastating – but this is the best happy ending.
WITH the end of summer fast approaching, at least we all have something to look forward to when autumn comes.
The full cast of Strictly 2023 has been revealed and I love the fact that this is the oldest ever line-up.
Special mention to Angela Rippon, who will be taking part aged 78 – and she insists she can still do the splits.
Her 1976 Morecambe and Wise dance routine wowed the nation, and I predict we will soon fall in love with her and those amazing flexible legs all over again.
I WAS saddened to read about the demise of High Street store Wilko this week.
The bargain retailer has entered administration, meaning around 12,000 jobs are now at risk.
What started as a single hardware store in Leicester in 1930 went on to become a beloved UK-wide chain, with 400 shops across the country.
Now all of those stores could close in the next few days.
It’s very sad for all the employees facing redundancy – and another blow to our beleaguered High Street.
But I was stunned when the GMB union’s national officer hit out at Wilko, saying the situation was “entirely avoidable”.
Here’s a thought. Why don’t the GMB raise the funds to buy the chain – and then show us all how to run 400 shops profitably?
Given that many GMB members are public-sector employees who have never run a business successfully in their lives, I would hazard a guess that they wouldn’t have a clue how to turn things round.
Wilko aside, the real question is: what can we do about this current crisis in retail, and how can we get Britain shopping again during a cost-of-living crisis?
I’m sure that a huge part of the problem is the rise of online shops such as Amazon offering convenience and low costs – it’s difficult to say no to that.
Even though it’s tempting to be able to order something online in the morning that arrives at your door in the afternoon, I think we should all try harder to buy from real shops – ideally from local small businesses, to prevent the internet giants from finishing off our town centres completely.