SARAH VINE: No, it’s not all Meghan’s fault – we’re seeing the real Harry

When all this Prince Harry madness first began, there was little doubt in some people’s minds who was to blame – Meghan Markle, with her fancy American ways, well-turned ankles and fashionable Californian psychobabble.

They were convinced that she had in some way brought about a fundamental change in the Prince’s character, substituting ‘our’ Harry – the happy-go-lucky party Prince – for an earnest, preachy eco-bore. 

Where once he seemed so relaxed that he was practically horizontal, all of a sudden he became tight-lipped and tense.

There was only one plausible explanation: Meghan. She had stolen his heart and was now busy reformatting his mind, undermining his relationship with his family, his country, his Crown, and reshaping him as her ticket to fame and fortune.

Now, I’m not saying there isn’t some truth in that. After all, there’s no doubt that the pre-Meghan Harry was very different to the post-Meghan model. 

And there’s also no doubt that since they moved to America, she has wasted no time cashing in on her Royal connections. 

She is already possibly the most famous woman in the world, and well on her way to becoming one of the richest.

But I don’t think she’s the only one to blame. I believe Harry is just as complicit. It’s only that we’ve never really wanted to accept it because in our minds he is still that tragic young boy at his mother’s funeral. 

But that Harry is gone now and the man we see before us is a very different kettle of fish. Far from being brainwashed by Meghan, I think he’s just starting to be himself.

It now transpires that for a long time he has hated being a Royal. He has intimated as much on many occasions, in particular when he was a serving member of the Armed Forces.

But last week he finally came out and said it, comparing being a Royal to ‘a mix between The Truman Show and living in a zoo’, and telling the American podcast host Dax Shepard: ‘I was in my early 20s and I was thinking, ‘I don’t want this job, I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be doing this.’

Not only that, it seems he has always harboured deep resentment for his father and that whole ‘Firm’ side of the family for the unfair way he felt his mother was treated. 

Again, we’ve seen glimpses of that before, but last week he finally spelled it out in detail, accusing not only Prince Charles but even his poor grieving grandma herself, of being emotionally inadequate.

As for his brother, it’s surely no coincidence that as William has gradually settled into his role as a working Royal, clearly relishing every moment of it, the relationship between the siblings has soured. 

The more you think about it, the clearer it seems – however much Meghan may have seen Harry as a way in, he saw her as a way out, an opportunity to escape from a role that he clearly considered toxic (‘Look what it did to my mum’) and torturous (‘It’s the job right? Grin and bear it.’).

Whether consciously or unconsciously, he married someone who he knew would never take to public life in Britain – indeed who was deeply unsuited to it – and who, ultimately, would provide him with the perfect excuse to leave.

Harry has always claimed he stepped down as a working Royal and moved to America to protect his own family. That he had no choice, that it was the only sane option. But if you ask me it’s got nothing to do with that.

He did it to pursue his dream. His own dream of freedom – which is fast becoming the Royal Family’s ultimate nightmare.

Chipping Norton was always Leftie

The Oxfordshire town of Chipping Norton has gone from true blue to blood red in the latest local elections. Given the nature of its fashionable inhabitants – from the Camerons to the Beckhams via Jemima Goldsmith and Elisabeth Murdoch – this may come as a surprise to some.

Not to me. Many moons ago I used to move in such circles, and one thing was always clear: despite the titles, the money and stately homes, this lot are all achingly Left-wing.

In fact, outside of North London you won’t find a bigger bunch of champagne socialists. Ironic, given what a Labour government would do to their cosy way of life.

So the DUP has gone ahead and elected Edwin Poots as its new leader, a creationist who doesn’t believe in evolution and thinks the world is 6,000 years old. I fear we may be witnessing the dawn of a new Dark Ages in Irish politics. 

I don’t really know what to say about the barbaric murder of a young British mother in Greece by a gang of thieves. What kind of a monster can torture a woman in front of her baby daughter? I’ve never been much of a believer in the death penalty. But some people just don’t deserve to walk this Earth. 

A female student is facing expulsion from Abertay University, Dundee, for saying women are born with female sexual organs and men are stronger. She was branded transphobic and her comments labelled ‘discriminatory’ and ‘offensive’. What is discriminatory and offensive is denying women their fundamental biological identities in the name of bogus inclusivity. 

Pop star Paloma Faith has become the latest celebrity mum to pose with breast pumps attached to her nipples, thus simultaneously virtue-signalling her credentials as a parent and providing a modicum of titillation for those who are that way inclined. 

I’d be more likely to buy her earth mother act were it not for the fact that her hair and make-up are immaculate. As I recall, neither was a priority when I was breastfeeding. 

Church schools must keep the faith

According to new Church of England guidelines, its schools are to avoid singing hymns that are ‘too confessional’. Nor should there be any ‘assumption of Christian faith in those present’.

The directive doesn’t go quite as far as suggesting they do away with mentioning a Christian God altogether, but they might as well.

Both my children attended CofE schools and there were plenty of other pupils from different faiths. It was never a problem during church services – they simply abstained or did something else, and everyone was very respectful.

The truth is that the more the CofE continues to bend itself out of shape in a pathetic attempt to curry favour with the woke mob, the faster it will haemorrhage members.

Very few parents who send their children to church schools these days subscribe to any proselytising form of Christianity. But they do want a basic Christian framework.

If even that is being dismantled, it’s hard to see what the point is.

No doubt much of the focus of next year’s public inquiry into Britain’s Covid response will be on the procurement of PPE and the timetable of lockdowns; but one scandal that must not go overlooked is the question of how nearly one in five women was made to wear face coverings while giving birth – despite official guidance saying they should not be asked to do so. 

So many of the rules surrounding the pandemic have seemed illogical; but that is nothing short of sadistic. 

Sales of ‘green’ cars overtook diesel vehicles last week. Isn’t it funny: not so long ago ‘clean diesel’ cars were the future and we all rushed out and bought them, only to discover that they were, in fact, a massive con. 

So amid all the evangelism for electric, it’s worth remembering that there are serious concerns about the ethical credentials of lithium batteries, not to mention a lot of unanswered questions about how the widespread use of chargers will impact on the National Grid. I’m reserving judgment.