Prince Harry has dominated newspaper headlines regularly during King Charles III's first year as monarch – something that has proved a distraction for the new reign – and now on the eve of the anniversary of his father’s accession, he is likely to do so yet again.
The Duke of Sussex is expected to return to the United Kingdom on September 7 to attend the awards ceremony for the charity WellChild, the day before the first anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's death.
The UK’s longest-serving monarch died at the age of 96 at Balmoral, her beloved Scottish country estate, instantly making Prince Charles, as he was then, king of the UK and 14 other realms.
The 74-year-old monarch is expected to mark the September 8 anniversary privately, with no plans to hold a family gathering or public event to commemorate her passing.
“The first anniversary of a reign is always a period where a previous monarch has died, so it is sombre,” the royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told The National.
“The Queen always marked the anniversary of her father’s death by remaining at Sandringham. It’s a sombre occasion.”
King Charles III was the longest-waiting heir in history and the oldest monarch to take the throne when he did so at the age of 73.
He had been a very vocal heir, on topics including homeopathy and architecture, but his accession speech made it clear he would be a different monarch, Mr Fitzwilliams says.
“His accession speech was the very significant moment, because he made it clear that he realised as Prince of Wales, you create your own role, and he created one that included work as an activist.
“There is no doubt he was provocative at time to time as well. He made it clear that the job as monarch is very different.”
And with the exception of the “curious case” of a controversial meeting with Ursula Von der Leyen, president of the EU Commission, which the government and palace each placed the onus for on the other, “he’s done exceptionally well”, Mr Fitzwilliams says.
His first overseas trip to Germany in late March was a success, and in May the country marked his accession in a lavish ceremony in London.
But the year did not come without its challenges, which, since the outset, have been dominated by his youngest son, Prince Harry, who complained about his wife Meghan not being allowed to accompany him on his trip to Balmoral to see his dying grandmother.
“There is no doubt that he has a certain understanding of what the role undoubtedly involves, with of course as the Queen had in her final years, the difficulty of Harry and Meghan and how you deal with a couple who are so unpredictable,” Mr Fitzwilliams says.
Prince Harry and Meghan had been problematic for the royal family for some time. In 2020, they stepped down as senior royals and moved to the US. The following year they sat down with chat-show host Oprah Winfrey, providing unprecedented – and somewhat shocking insights – into life in the royal family.
But their revelations only escalated during the first year of King Charles’s reign, starting in December with the release of their Netflix documentary.
In the six-part series the duke and duchess shed light on their troubled life within the royal family, accused Kensington Palace of lying to protect Prince William, and Prince Harry's father of lying at the Megxit summit.
That was quickly followed by the release of Harry’s autobiography, Spare, the following month, and accompanying media rounds, which shared further painful revelations.
“There is no doubt the response to Spare and those interviews, which involved attacking Camilla, was to evict them from Frogmore, was a positive statement. It was the one thing the family could do as a statement," Mr Fitzwilliams says.
“They couldn’t go point by point.”
Prince Harry’s HRH title has since been removed from the website because he and Meghan are no longer working royals.
He did attend his father's coronation, without his wife, but Prince Harry has undoubtedly been a problem for the new monarch.
“I think he has dealt with it as well as anyone could have,” Mr Fitzwilliams says.
But it has left a damaging hangover. Polling among 18 to 24-year-olds is now “consistently bad” he points out.
“The figure has plummeted and remained low,” Mr Fitzwilliams says.
And that is a direct result of the bad publicity created by Prince Harry and Meghan, says Catherine Meyer, the royal biographer and writer of Charles: The Heart of a King.
“There is a real sea change in the younger generations they need to capture to survive,” she said earlier this year.
“Although William and Kate are basically the same age as Harry and Meghan, Harry and Meghan appeal to a younger demographic, as William and Kate are already very sort of middle aged in their aspect.
“And their children are very young, so there is no one to capture the imagination there.”
She says the king’s relationship with his son, or apparent lack of, has created a situation in which the monarchy is, if not in crisis, now under “a lot more pressure than it has been for a really long time”.
“But that does not mean it is the beginning of the end for the monarchy. I don’t think the downfall of the monarchy can be as fast as you think it can be.
“But one of the things Charles is already looking at, and you can see that with the different plans for Buckingham Palace, which is they have to find ways to reassert their value. He was already talking about slimming down the number of family members,” Meyer says.
That is not going to be easy, however, because there are already not that many of them.
“The idea of a slimline monarchy is constantly being quoted, but in reality, as Princess Anne made clear, there are so few of them.
“You couldn’t slim them down. And there are only four under 70, the senior working royals. You can’t, it’s a fact,” Mr Fitzwilliams says.
Looking ahead, the king and queen will finally visit France later this month for a trip that was postponed in the wake of widespread demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron's retirement age reforms.
The couple had planned to tour Paris and Bordeaux in March as part of their debut on the world stage as monarch and queen consort. But the trip was shelved after nationwide protests rocked France, and Germany, which was originally intended to be the second leg of the journey, became the royals' first destination instead.
A state visit to France will now take place from September 20 to 22.
It is not known whether the King will see Harry when he is in the UK, but experts say he remains one of the monarch’s greatest challenges, both personally and potentially reputationally as a risk to the institution as a whole.
“At the moment their emphasis would appear to be elsewhere, not fortunately on attacking the royal family. That’s one thing and it’s to be welcomed,” Mr Fitzwilliams says.
“But on the other hand they are unpredictable. There is a four-book deal with Random House, if so, what about the other three books? We had this Netflix Harry and Meghan, what comes next?
“We simply don’t know. But we know enough to distrust them.”
King Charles III's coronation: Incredible images from a historic day - in pictures
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Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
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Champions League Last 16
Red Bull Salzburg (AUT) v Bayern Munich (GER)
Sporting Lisbon (POR) v Manchester City (ENG)
Benfica (POR) v Ajax (NED)
Chelsea (ENG) v Lille (FRA)
Atletico Madrid (ESP) v Manchester United (ENG)
Villarreal (ESP) v Juventus (ITA)
Inter Milan (ITA) v Liverpool (ENG)
Paris Saint-Germain v Real Madrid (ESP)
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The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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What is Reform?
Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.
Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.
After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
Disability on screen
Empire — neuromuscular disease myasthenia gravis; bipolar disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Rosewood and Transparent — heart issues
24: Legacy — PTSD;
Superstore and NCIS: New Orleans — wheelchair-bound
Taken and This Is Us — cancer
Trial & Error — cognitive disorder prosopagnosia (facial blindness and dyslexia)
Grey’s Anatomy — prosthetic leg
Scorpion — obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety
Switched at Birth — deafness
One Mississippi, Wentworth and Transparent — double mastectomy
Dragons — double amputee
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
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More on Quran memorisation:
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
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UAE v Ireland
1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets
2nd ODI, January 12
3rd ODI, January 14
4th ODI, January 16
Profile of RentSher
Started: October 2015 in India, November 2016 in UAE
Founders: Harsh Dhand; Vaibhav and Purvashi Doshi
Based: Bangalore, India and Dubai, UAE
Sector: Online rental marketplace
Size: 40 employees
Investment: $2 million
