In his effort to transform from a royal famous person to a regular famous person, Prince Harry is making yet another big life change. Prince Harry is now going by simply “Harry,” according to his request at the Travalyst Sustainable Tourism Summit in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he delivered a speech Wednesday.
Per a video shared by The Daily Mail's royal correspondent Rebecca English at the summit, host Ayesha Hazarika told the crowd at the event that Harry requested to drop Prince from his name.
"He's made it clear we that we are all just to call him 'Harry,'" Hazarika said, before adding: "So ladies and gentlemen, please give a big, warm, Scottish welcome to Harry."
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It’s not all that surprising that Harry (phew, this will take some getting used to) wants to back away from his title. Earlier this year, he and wife Meghan Markle announced they are stepping away from their duties as senior members of the royal family, and working towards financial independence. They have already dropped their His/Her Royal Highness titles, and are no longer using the term Sussex Royal in their future branding. The couple will officially depart from their royal duties on March 31 — a date that is fast-approaching.
The event where Harry told the world to call him just Harry may not be a coincidence. Travalyst is an organization founded by Booking.com, Skyscanner, Trip.com, TripAdvisor and Visa, and led by Harry. It seeks to “transform the future of travel into a more sustainable one that supports and protects destinations and local communities for decades to come." Harry and Meghan were publicly criticized for using private jets while preaching about sustainability, something that Harry said they only do occasionally when the safety of their family is a concern.
Prince Harry sounds like a guy who would take a private plane everywhere; just Harry mostly flies commercial.
As they have while working under the royal family, Meghan and Harry will continue to support philanthropic efforts. While Meghan, a former actress who starred on the TV series Suits before marrying the prince, already has a voiceover contract with Disney (she’ll donate the money she earns to an elephant charity) it’s unclear how else Harry will spend his time. Removing the “prince” from all his monogrammed pillows and towels, however, is one project he’ll want to leave plenty of time for.
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