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Prince Harry makes surprising new speech - reveals what he was banned from doing as a working royal
@Source: hellomagazine.com
Prince Harry revealed the one thing he's never been allowed to do in a speech made in LA on Thursday.
The Duke of Sussex, 40, made the statement at the Upfront Summit in California, where he discussed how people invest in a shared future to solve the challenges faced today as a divided society.
During his talk, Harry confessed that he has never been able to vote, a convention adhered to by all members of the British royal family, despite it not being against the law.
Harry said: "I’m not one to be caught in the divide between left or right views, not cornered by a belief in blue or red. Hell, I’ve never even been allowed to vote," Harry said, adding: "From my institutional role travelling the world, to my decade of duties in the military—I saw the power of serving others firsthand."
Why don't the members of the British Royal Family vote?
According to Sky News' Alistair Bruce, all members of the Royal Family, other than the sovereign, may vote.
"Traditionally, they do not. This is principally to protect the apolitical nature of their support to the monarch, but also because, in the past, as royal dukes, many male members of the family were prevented by law from voting because they could sit as peers in the House of Lords."
"When the Royal Family agreed to withdraw from exercising their rights to sit and speak in the House of Lords in 1999, it technically lifted the bar to vote in elections."
Other key moments heard the Duke discuss the difference between his life in the US and the UK.
"The way that I answer the question of how we invest in our shared future is different now living in the US, to when I was living in the UK. Why? Because before I moved, so much of my life revolved around charity.
"Since then, while my charities remain a core part of my life’s work, I’ve also been focusing on upstream solutions and prevention, driven by decisions and investments that address problems before they require fixing. Still, I’ve approached everything in my life through the lens of service."
Harry also mentioned his work with not only the Invictus Games but his organisation Archewell, which he shares with his wife Meghan Markle.
"It’s the same approach I’ve taken in founding charities like The Invictus Games Foundation back in 2014, which supports and rehabilitates wounded and injured service personnel and veterans through sport, and more recently with The Archewell Foundation, where we show up and do good for those who need it most, supporting social impact initiatives—including digital safety and education—all under the umbrella of protecting our collective mental health."
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