Great leaders of England:  Edmund the Magnificent, Richard the Lionheart, William the Conqueror, Harry the Hilarious…Wait, who?!?

I started off the day with a good laugh after watching the news reports of Prince Harry partying in Las Vegas. At first I thought, so what else is new? The words partying and Prince Harry seem to go hand in hand, don’t they?  When the report continued on to show nude pictures of Harry (appropriately blacked-out, of course) in his VIP suite playing strip billiards (allegedly his idea) with his friends, my chuckle turned into a belly laugh. Oh, man, this new generation of English royalty are certainly doing their best to entertain us, aren’t they?!

I couldn’t help but imagine the Queen Mother’s reaction to the news with her tea cup shattering to the floor as she choked on her crumpet. That poor old lady certainly has her hands full with these quirky grandchildren, doesn’t she?!  And imagine dear old dad, Prince Charles, reprimanding him, “Now Harry, my lad, we mustn’t sashay about without our knickers on, shan’t we?  Be a good boy, then.  Carry on.”

I’ve actually been amused by this blue-eyed, flaming red head with the devilish grin almost from the beginning.  My kids were born around the same time as William and Harry, so I was always interested in royal reporting of those two gregarious heirs to the throne.  William always seemed to be more subdued, although I do see a glint of mischief in his eyes, especially when he’s around Harry.  As a kid, Harry was always the rough and tumble one wandering off in his disheveled clothes causing a raucous.  He was always the one you had to keep an eye on.

Now, in his defense, Harry’s only 27 and by today’s standards, 27 is still partying age. I know this from observing my daughters…  Hec, my own brother made front page news while streaking nude across his college campus when he was just a couple of years younger than that. To see him today you would never imagine that someone so reserved and upright would do such a thing, but there are pictures somewhere to prove it.  It makes you wonder what faux pas Prince Charles or even Queen Lizzy committed as youngsters.

We all have our skeletons in our closets, but Harry seems to enjoy dancing about publicly with his. I think for the sake of Grand-Mummy and his royal English heritage, he’s going to have to do a better job of “watching his p’s and q’s.” (A phrase which ironically comes from English pubs and taverns of the seventeenth century wherein bartenders would keep a watch on the alcohol consumption of their patrons by keeping an eye on the pints and quarts.)

Let’s hold out hope for Harry the Hilarious while we may.  He will grow up…some day…and become an upstanding English gentleman. I, myself, hope he always holds onto that ember of fun.  But as far as the new generation of leadership in Great Britain goes, thank God William was born first!