Timing is perfect for someone to leave a royal family business and build something more relevant. No growth without risk.
Prince Harry and Princess Meghan shook convention by effectively retiring from the British royal family. Romantics applauded. Critics scoffed.
As usual, the real dynamite in the announcement is more explosive than all the hot takes put together. It’s all about timing.
Start with the fundamentals. Harry isn’t really in the line of succession so monarchial institutions won’t even register his absence.
He would need his grandmother, father, brother, nephews and niece to abdicate or die before he ever moves beyond his current role.
There’s no sign of abdication. The Queen is 93 and hanging onto the crown as tightly as ever.
And as for outliving the immediate heirs, Prince William’s kids are practically still babies.
He’s stuck in a junior position for life. He’s 35 now. The clock is ticking on his youth.
He’s watched his dad drift. Evidently he doesn’t want that.
Besides, it’s not like being the Duke of Sussex actually provides its own income. Technically his dad still pays the bills and the government covers his goodwill travel expenses.
That’s it. Unless the circumstances shift, he stays dependent on either his dad or brother. Who wants that?
“Financial independence” sounds really good in that scenario.
Tension feeds transition
But while the royal doors of ambition are shut, others are opening up.
Harry and Meghan have suggested that they’ll go to Canada. It’s an interesting choice somewhere between UK and USA socially and politically.
The Queen is still technically head of state there. And as the UK finally steps away from continental Europe, Canada naturally becomes the conduit to new global alliances.
A tighter Atlantic relationship has been inevitable since 2006 when British Aerospace pulled out of Airbus and started pushing the UK defense sector toward North America.
Brexit really only confirms that strategic pivot. However it plays out, the new lines of British influence now run west across the ocean where a common language and celebrity culture are waiting.
Key fact: Meghan’s TV show filmed in Toronto. This is where she spent a big part of her working life. It’s familiar territory.
Either way, the timing is suggestive. The latest UK election was a political earthquake, decimating the urban, cosmopolitan and youth-facing Labour party.
There’s been talk about Harry and Meghan doing non-profit work. If that’s where their sympathies are, they’re probably eager for a change of scene.
They wouldn’t get that change in a Britain that conformed to their sense of where the world should go. Instead, a warm cultural cocoon makes it a lot harder to shake up the status quo.
It’s clear that they’re unhappy. Something is pushing them out of the royal nest. That’s the motive.
Sometimes “ambition” is what drives us after we’ve already decided to jump.
“A great start in life”
Of course these plucky kids aren’t facing the cold world with no advantages.
Most of his cash flow actually comes from a more traditional rich family source: a trust fund his mother set up before she died.
Figure he can draw on around $350,000 of income a year without rustling the trustees. That’s roughly what Meghan was making on the show, so she can always go back to acting if they run short.
Otherwise, there’s no real “severance package” here. The royal family officially doesn’t own their properties, so inheritance is a matter of prestige and not a transfer of assets.
Charles can’t settle out if one of the boys wants to leave the family business. But he can’t really liberate a lot of capital to fund new ventures either.
Remember, when Fergie got her divorce, she only got around $20,000 a year in alimony. It’s enough to keep someone hungry enough to talk to the tabloids.
And there are endorsements lining up for Harry and Meghan.
Scale versus title
Arguably the biggest attraction of remaining a professional royal is the org chart itself.
It’s a comfortable living but there isn’t a lot of flexibility. Your time is allocated and rocking the boat is not encouraged.
The notion of any member of the family following up on any entrepreneurial impulse would have been unthinkable two weeks ago. If Harry gets his exit, he can actually launch a venture.
Any number of social platforms, hedge funds and think tanks would be happy to pay him six figures to do less work than he does now. It’s a PR expense, a glamour hire worth its weight in fund raising.
Keep in mind, millennial tech founders can accumulate billions on the IPO and pour the money back into new ideas when they cash out.
Even if Evan Spiegel or Jack Dorsey got tired of Silicon Valley, they could simply rotate into bonds and earn 10 times more a year than what Prince Harry is worth today.
Then you move up into Zuckerberg territory and the comparisons get ridiculous. The Facebook founder is the same age as the prince. Which one will leave a bigger mark on history?
There’s just no upside for Harry in the royal womb. Reaching for something more means taking a risk. He might fail spectacularly.
I think that’s true of a lot of ambitious Brits in a time of change. The country throws a big shadow on the world but it’s still a relatively small island.
Think of previous British Invasions. People fled the island for a little fresh air and a shot at something better.
We might see a lot more of that as the Brexit rocks their status quo. If nothing else, there’s plenty of room in Canada.
And while we haven’t talked much about Meghan here, she’ll be just fine. Hollywood royalty is its own thing and it scales a lot higher.
Arguably she’s the one saving him from a life of irrelevance.
