Prince Harry opens his heart about problems of being in the royal family

Britain's Prince Harry greets runners representing the charity 'Heads Together' before officially starting 2017 London Marathon, in London on April 23, 2017. Harry said he and his brother Prince William did not want to be just “celebrities”. PHOTO | LUKE MACGREGOR | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Every year, tens of thousands of innocent people are conned by online scammers.

Not many countries have kings and queens these days and the British royal family is a constant subject of debate among its subjects.

The latest headlines came when Prince Harry said no-one in the royal family wants to be king or queen.

“I don’t think so,” he said in an interview with the US magazine, Newsweek.

Royals did their duties for the good of the people, he said.

DIANA'S DEATH
Then speaking to the Mail on Sunday in London, he said there was a time when he “wanted out” of the family.

He said joining the army, when he was “just Harry”, was the best escape he ever had.

Prince Harry, who is a grandson of Queen Elizabeth and fifth in line to the throne (he is the bearded one), also spoke about walking behind the coffin of his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris.

He was only 12 and said no child should be asked to do that in any circumstances.

“I don’t think it would happen today,” he added.

NORMAL LIFE
Harry said he and his brother Prince William did not want to be just “celebrities”.

He said: “I felt I wanted out but decided to stay in and work out a role for myself.”

The prince has devoted much of his time to charitable causes, including mental health and wounded military veterans.

“I do my own shopping,” he said. “Sometimes I worry someone will snap me with their phone, but I am determined to have a relatively normal life and if I am lucky to have children.

“Even if I was king, I would do my own shopping.”

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It’s called scamming the scammers or conning the con artists.

Every year, tens of thousands of innocent people are conned by online scammers, so it is good to know there is an army of tech-savvy volunteers working to expose them.

One anonymous lady told the BBC: “We waste scammers’ time, we waste their resources and we make them believe they are not as good as they think they are.”

TRAPPING SCAMMERS
She goes by the name Jill and says: “These people are criminals. They rob our elderly relatives, so they deserve to be treated as criminals. If we could get them arrested we would.”

Wayne is another scam baiter, who sometimes works with Jill.

A man emails Jill to say she has won a lottery in Africa. Pretending to be husband and wife, Wayne and Jill make a joint call back, thus wasting the scammer’s time by arguing about which of them gets the money.

One time Jill conned a scammer into believing she was a lady called Lynn and was in Madrid.

He was driving all round Madrid looking for her when she was in her front room in England.

She said: “He got so upset he said, ‘I’m going to come and find you. I don’t care what the penalty is for murder in the UK, I’m going to find you.’”

Jill considers that to be her greatest success.

***
We had a week of unbroken sunshine recently, a veritable heatwave for this country. But not everyone was happy.

Devoted mobile users complained that because of the glare of the sun, they were unable to read emails on their smartphones.

However, it seems this problem has been solved by American and Taiwanese scientists who produced new technology that reduces screen glare from 4.4 per cent to 0.23 per cent.

I hope the banks have utilised this for their ATM machines.

On sunny days I frequently see people involved in the most comical of bodily contortions as they strive to see the words on the screen of the hole in the wall.
***
More rural sallies:

A bus full of politicians failed to negotiate a sharp bend in a country road, crashed into a field and overturned.

When the police arrived, all they found was an empty bus and a farmer leaning on a spade.

“What happened to the politicians?” the cops asked. “I buried them,” the farmer said.

“So they were all dead, then?” asked the cops. “Well, some of them said they were alive, but you know what liars politicians are.”

KANGAROOS
An American farmer visited a farmer in Australia and asked how big his holding was.

Told a thousand acres, the American said he could fit that into one corner of his farm back in Texas.

“How many cattle have you got?” he asked.

The Aussie said a couple of hundred, setting off peals of mirth from the American, who said he had more than a thousand.

Just then a bunch of kangaroos hove into view. “What are they?” the American asked.

The Australian looked puzzled. “You mean you don’t have grasshoppers in America?”