From 2001 to 2011, Prince Andrew was the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, in other words, the trade ambassador. He rolled with the high rollers, swaggering around making deals. According to the BBC in 2011 just before he stepped down:
Questions have been raised over the prince's suitability by such issues as lunching at Buckingham Palace with a "notorious" member of the former Tunisian regime, to taking a holiday with a Libyan gun smuggler, to claims he used an official trip to try to find a buyer for his home in the UK.
Eyebrows have also been raised in some quarters about the prince' diplomacy style. One ambassador described him speaking "cockily" and "verging on rude".
And, ahem, on top of this, there was his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the then-alive rapist and pedophile. Needless to say, Andrew might not have been very good at his job even though he may have thought himself quite the closer.
Anyway, here’s Prince Harry today in London at BGC Charity Day, an annual fundraiser to commemorate those lost on 9/11 in support of various charities around the world. Look what he did:
Prince Harry just closed a £1 BILLION UK Sterling government bond trade - known as Gilts. One of the largest trades in the market over the past 5 years. @BGCCharityDay #PrinceHarry pic.twitter.com/dni0qZQYKE
— Sarah Hajibagheri (@SaraHajibagheri) September 11, 2019
I mean… obviously there was a LOT of work that already happened before the call. And of course his participation was the added glamour that pushed the deal to the finish line, essentially what a closer does. Harry is the Royal Closer.
Busy week for Harry so far. Earlier this week, he and Meghan Markle announced more details about their upcoming tour of southern Africa.
Yesterday he marked the 5th anniversary of the Invictus Games with a video on Instagram, another new royal social media feature. This is an edited video but Harry is speaking candidly, conversationally, about his Invictus memories. And he looks comfortable, he looks casual, and the goal is to seem relatable. Not every member of his family can pull this off – but he does, in part because… he’s not lit well! And it’s not over-produced which adds to its effectiveness. Remember, overproducing and produced to perfection is the royal thing. What Sussex Royal is doing here feels like a good middle ground.
