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Subscribe to RSSThe Whitechapel bell foundry, makers of Big Ben and the Liberty Bell, are also casting bells for the Queen's jubilee. NBC's Keir Simmons reports.
By Keir Simmons
NBC News
Dancing, smiling, hugging his way into people’s hearts, Prince Harry’s recently wrapped tour of the Caribbean and Brazil is widely seen as a great success. But it was more than that.
Speaking with reporters yesterday, the Prince spoke about his laid-back style. It enables him to connect with people, he said. Truly, he is his mother’s heir.
“You can’t sit with a stiff upper lip, with crossed arms, and not get involved,” Prince Harry said. “I’ve never taken myself too seriously.”
His comments are revealing because they show that he is aware of the impression he his making -- he isn’t simply relaxing.
“I’ve had an amazing time on behalf of my grandmother," he said. "Hopefully everyone is happy.”
Watch the story tonight on "NBC Nightly News."
This is no frivolous young man. He has thought hard about his image. For the last few years, Prince Harry, his older brother Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge (the former Kate Middleton), have been changing the way we view the Royal Family. You might call it a royal rebranding. And it’s working. Even the Queen, still deeply traditional, is now described again as fashionable.
This year Britain itself is hoping to pull off the same trick. The UK will look to its oldest family to help the entire country put on a new face. With the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June, and the Olympics in July and August, it’s going to be a marathon celebration.
Like the young royals, the country will try to appear both traditional and modern, to show off its history without seeming old fashioned: to display all its pomp and ceremony, without being pompous. Britain will want to say to America’s tourists, ‘Come visit!’ while telling American firms, ‘Let’s do business.’
The summer festivities will start in June with a flotilla of 1,000 vessels carrying the Queen down the Thames, opening the Jubilee. Great Britain knows how to put on a good show. But in the months that follow, it must ensure everything is well organized. It needs to prove that it won’t sink under the weight of a big event like the Olympics.
An Olympics that will cost $17 billion. In these tough times, two out of three British people say is not worth it, according to the polling organization YouGov.
Perhaps that’s understandable. The British are a naturally skeptical people. We look across the pond with envy at America’s enthusiasm. But secretly, underneath the stiff upper lip, every British heart is hoping that the country does itself proud this year.
And Britain can look to its royal family to see how an old institution can make itself new again. Prince Harry, Prince William and Kate Middleton have shown the way. Their message is that the country can reclaim a place it has held many times before, at the center of the world stage this summer.
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There will always be an England.
nobody actually cares about these people except the media and Meredith from the Office.
I'm sure the Olympics will be successful, but if the majority of British taxpayers are annoyed about the costs, it is probably because the event will be concentrated in the London area, while the rest of the country will see none of the advantages. Unfortunately, the "Britain" in this article really means "Southern England" when it comes to the Olympics. When this happens, no amount of dancing in the Carribbean or Brazil by Harry will convince someone outside the Southeast of England that they are included in the resurgence of British pride.
I wish them well. It is going to be tough to beat the festivities from Beijing though. The Chinese know how to throw a party. Hopefully the Brits can reunite Led Zeppelin - that would pretty much do it.
Renerman- If no one cared about them they'd never be in the news because no one would read the articles. Just because you dont care, dont be so naive as to assume no one else does. Did you see all the crowds lined up at the wedding and every appearance one of them makes?
Harry saw his parents divorce and lost his beautiful mum to a tragic car accident at a very young age (his mum only being 36 and he was barely 12) As immature as wearing a Swastika may have been, and as offensive as it is to people that lost loved ones, relatives in the atrocity of the holocaust, I would be more worried about the people that are trying to deny the holocaust even happened! I think Harry has learned his lesson and is becoming a grown, mature young man!
Indeed, there will always be a mother country, God Bless her. And HRH's grand babies have done her right proud!
Are you Kate Middleton?
And quite obviously you are not the Duchess of Cambridge. As such you would never so improperly refer to the Queen as HRH! The Prince of Wales may be referred to as HRH but NEVER THE QUEEN!
Princess Diana's children, grandchildren of the Queen Elizabeth, have bridging the Royal family from the 20th century to 21st century. It is moving forward to becoming people's princes, princesses, and queen.
Diana would certainly be proud of both of her sons.
Diana had two wonderful children...Queen Elizabeth II is pretty awesome also! I hope she reigns for many more years.
Diana lives through her sons!
Ummmmmmmm is this really news ? I mean, isn't this equivalent to reality TV or tabloid reality ?
How much money does the monarchy have and what relevance do they posses ?
Ummmm yeah it is.
Look relevant to me.
C'mon... This is a great chance to modernize and restore their relevance.
Picture the Flotilla, with the Mississippi Queen paddlewheeler leading. Then, the procession to Buckingham with the Beefeaters being led by Goofy and Cinderella. The Royal Coach reshaped into the Pumpkin with all the gold and purple trim. A beautiful vision. What could be more relevant to today?
Why do people like you come here to tell us how little an article means to you? When I see a headline I don't care about or find boring, annoying, or disgusting, I don't go there. Seems pretty simple to me. You must like the sound of your own voice.
And no, this is not reality TV. These are real people living their real lives. And they are relevant. Tourism is a HUGE business in Britain and the royals and their history are a big draw.
Huh?What?
Its realivant and news to me so I guess that is a yes.
If it wasn't "relevant", why did you read it?
Still appreciate the old country from which we earned our forebears earned hard-won freedom nearly 250 years ago, and I respect what this new generation of royals is doing to help re-mold Britain and its image for the 21st Century. We're 500 years past Henry the Eighth, thank God.
I wanna like him but dude always looks like he is in the middle of pulling another prank lol. GOD BLESS THE QUEEN! (You have to say that after insinuating anything about the royalacity)
I like all three of these people William Katherine and Harry!They are very down to earth!
Harry can be a son of gun,but I think he's a nice person!He's going do Great!
Harry is a true red head meaning straight to the point, funny and mischievous. Diana would be really proud of him and how far he has come along with his brother William and only many best wishes to them both for a long, healthy and productive life that gives them happiness.
Perhaps I am too harsh, but I cannot get the image of Harry's Nazi costume complete with swastika wristband out of my head. To say that he has even partially spurred a [positive] royal "rebranding" seems premature and unwarranted.
He was very young at that time and very stupid. Looks to me like he's grown up. Surely you don't want your whole life branded by the time you got caught drinking underage in a parked car. This isn't his only success since the unfortunate incident with the arm band. He's a lovely young man with exquisite manners and a bright future.
Harry went into combat in Afghanistan..... He's 'Man' enough don't you worry.
We've got a filthy Rich man running for President with five sons who've never thought of joining the military while we've been at War for ten years.... Shows you what the hell we sadly have to deal with.
While I appreciate your viewpoint, "very stupid" are the words that ring the most true about the young prince. Nazi paraphernalia is distasteful on anyone, let alone such a public role model. He may very well have lovely manners, but to someone who lost most of their family in the holocaust (I am third generation of two Auschwitz survivors) his costume is never something that should be used in jest. I earnestly would like to chalk this up to youthful ignorance or acting out, but the fact remains that his actions were far more severe than "drinking underage in a parked car," especially given that he has the potential to inspire a fairly sizable population. Considering the level and quality of education made available to him it is difficult to believe that he didn't know better. He absolutely has the potential to redeem himself, it just hasn't happened yet.
My great-grandfather fought in the Polish Uprising and most of the Jewish males in my family who wasn't affected (or lied about the genetic disorder who have) fought as American troops. It happened so many years ago and I find it very stupid you bring it up. He already proven himself as he fought in combat, showed the people he change, and everything, perhaps you just picking out one thing a man has done something wrong, we all did something stupid, so it's time to get over it and move on. Hope the Royal family have a good life! Cheers!
HUH?
Mouzie,
By your statements I have a feeling that if your relatives were alive they would slap the sh@t out of you for such a ignorant statement. It was this type of thought that brought about WW2 and the concentration camps, and you dare to make a mockery of it by calling these people a genetic disorder.
I wonder if stupidity is a genetic disorder, you might want to look it up if you can pull your head out of your @ss and get that racist thinking out of your head.
@ Mouzie: "genetic disorder?" Your ignorance is far more profound than your comment. I accidentally clicked the check button as I am new to this site and was just trying to erase your ridiculousness. Wish I could take it back!
Wow, I agree with abrigitea & k's choice. Mouzie in particular has issues.
How on earth can Mouzie not only get away with calling Judaism a "genetic disorder" but also have 3 (oops, looks like 1 was an accident, lol) votes? (S)he spews bigotry plain & simple. Kudos to all who have called her/him out. I never comment here but I had to express my dislike and disbelief.
OMG ppls (cough*mouxie*cough) are hateful morons. Not sure I agree 100% with abrigitea, tho he makes some sense, but there is no excuse for ppls like M. Harry def has his faults, Mouz has more.
Can't agree more with all other comments under this thread (besides the obvious anti semetic troll). Harry is far from prefect and has acted the fool but hopefully he proves himself.
Lol I am still waitng for Prince Charles to be King, at this rate, Price Harry would be king before he does.
He may have decided to give up his claim to the throne on behalf of William. I don't know if the law was changed to allow heirs to marry divorced persons, but it at least used to be law that if they married someone who was divorced that they had to give up their right to the throne. (reference - Wallace Simpson). William has done more to rehabilitate the monarchy than Charles ever did. He was proven to have carried on the affair with Camilla while he was married to Diana. I really think that we'll see William named as heir-presumptive before too much longer. But I could be wrong.
You guys are being too bashful and aggressive over my comment, my family have Stickler Syndrome, it IS a genetic disorder (a disease). Thanks for the bashful comments without asking. Have an awesome day!
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/stickler-syndrome
Don't see how my comment was hateful in anyways when I was defending Harry because of a simple mistake and being Jewish.
Lol Mouzie you don't even know what the word "bashful" means. Before calling someone else "very stupid" perhaps learn how to make a coherent sentence.
How about some of you guys try writing something in Polish that doesnt have any confusing language in it and maybe you would have something then to talk about. How any of you could miss that this person is Jewish and trying to tell everybody that she has gotten over some of what happened. Maybe it just takes a Jew to know a Jew or what. Sheesh you guys.
Many here have opinions without knowing what they are talking about. thanks, Mouzi for sharing your thoughts on the young prince. i think he can be forgiven too.
Your words as they were written lent themselves to the misunderstanding.
The entire British royal family disgusts me. Do you realize that despite not having official power anymore, they still do- how do you think they afford their lifestyle? These people are billionaires. Granted, Diana and her sons cannot be compared to the rest of them fairly, but the entire institution is outdated and should be abolished. Are you aware that Prince Philip has declared that when he dies, he wishes to come back as a disease to wipe out most of Africa? After generations of inbreeding, that's what you get.
I always like Harry better. It's good he is not living in his brother shadow.
A lot of people can not handle living in the real world day in and day out and news like Harry's trip is a minor distractions and a way of escaping for a while. So whats the harm.
Wow, some good news in the world about a happy young man, and the haters flock to their keyboards.
Best wishes to the whole family, and to all of yours, too. We could use a little more happiness and goodwill across the board. Try it, you might like it.
It is essential in a changing world that the monarchy move forward, even if it is baby steps. Prince William, Prince Harry and Kate are terrific representatives of Britian. They spend their time helping the British public thru their charitable work and their activities that lend to additional tourism and thus the economy of the nation. Unlike some of the young "celebraties" we have here in the US who spend thier time trying to get more publicity, more money, more tv time, drinking and drugging.
Good luck to all across the big pond in the upcoming Olympics.....I know all will have a grand time.
Now on to the grand children...leave them alone. They are trying to find their spot and have some pretty big shoes to fill. Their mother was a fabulous woman who put everyone else first and cared for many. They have taken after her (in my opinion). Everyone has made mistakes and the only one that is perfect is God Our Father. I am older then they are and I still make mistakes.
You guy's and gal's need to get over your selves, stop and smell a rose sometime....