The Princess of Wales travelled to Pulborough last Wednesday to mark the 50th anniversary of the West Sussex Minibus service, an unglamorous engagement that contrasts sharply with the celebrity-focused path taken by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
According to Express opinion columnist Chris Riches, the royal family—including Princess Catherine, Prince William, Princess Anne, King Charles, Queen Camilla, and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh—have simply got their heads down and done their duty, something Harry and Meghan have not yet done.
A Simple Morning's Work
Kate joined volunteers on the road in the West Sussex village to collect 94-year-old retired school cook Stella Drewett for her regular weekly outing and lunch at Pulborough village hall. The Princess boarded the minibus in the village before arriving outside Mrs Drewett's home, greeting her at the front door with "Good morning," and guiding her to the bus with a reassuring "Well done!"
It was not glamorous or headline-grabbing—just a simple morning's work of meeting the public and getting stuck in, the bread and butter of life as a working royal.
Contrasting Royal Tours
The column questions whether Harry and Meghan crave this kind of work with their return to the UK, doubting they have the stamina for years of selfless public graft. If they want the prestige of being working royals, they will have to get stuck in just like the others, it argues.
Last February, while Harry and Meghan were in Jordan on a faux-royal tour, William and Kate were visiting Powys, in mid-Wales, ahead of St David's Day. And while Harry and Meghan were in Australia on another fake royal tour, Kate was busy hosting England's Women's Rugby team in her official capacity as the patron of the Rugby Football Union—a duty she took over after Prince Harry stepped back from royal roles.
If Harry and Meghan really do aspire to become working royals again, they know which working royal they need to emulate, the column concludes.
