One of the pettiest moves in the history of the Petty Windsors will forever be Prince Harry being stripped of his military titles and honors. All because he married a biracial American woman and he wanted to protect her from abuse and harassment. That’s it. That’s why the Queen made Harry give up all of his military positions and honors as part of the Sussexit negotiations. At the time, Harry reportedly told friends that he was “devastated” to step down from those positions. I’m devastated on his behalf, still, to this day. Especially since, and I will holler about this all the time, Prince Andrew didn’t have to give up HIS military appointments even though HE LIED ABOUT RAPING A VICTIM OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING. Prince Andrew is still an HRH, a duke and he has all of his military positions still, to this day. Apparently, Harry and Meghan were both incredibly emotional about all of this on Harry’s last event with the Royal Marines. From Finding Freedom:

The most demoralizing aspect of the new deal was his being stripped of the honorary military appointments that had been awarded to him as a senior royal. As a retired serviceman, Harry would always be able to wear his medals, but no longer could he wear uniform as Captain General of the Royal Marines, Honorary Air Force Commandant of the Royal Air Force Base Honington, and honorary Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Navy’s Small Ships and Diving Operations. Those roles had come to an end. “That’s been a tough pill to swallow, and one that has been most painful to Meghan witness him go through,” a source close to the couple said. “It’s the one that made Harry emotional.”

“It was so unnecessary,” Meghan later told a friend of the decision to strip Harry of his military honors. “And it’s not just taking something away from him; it’s also that entire military veteran community. You can see how much he means to them, too. So why? The powers [of the institution] are unfortunately greater than me.”

Though the evening served as a poignant tribute to Britain’s Armed Forces, it also became a moment to thank the much-loved prince for his contributions to the military community. Usually reserved for the end of the performance, guests at the Royal Albert Hall rose to a standing ovation as Harry and Meghan entered the royal box. As they stood, listening to the rapturous farewell and obvious affection, the couple both did their best to hold back tears as they gripped each other’s hands.

[From Finding Freedom: Harry, Meghan, and the Making of a Modern Royal Family]

That was probably one of those “we’re never coming back” moments. Harry served in combat! He created a whole new thing, the Invictus Games, for wounded warriors. He loved being a soldier. He loved being around his comrades. But Petty Betty wanted to punish him for leaving. And I strongly suspect that Petty Willy was also pretty jealous of Harry’s actual military service, especially considering William’s RAF service mostly consisted of hiding in the Welsh countryside and refusing to work.

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