Like many people, the Duke of Sussex gets ‘incredibly nervous’ before making a speech. In his memoir, Spare, he wrote: ‘Hours before a speech or public appearance I’d be soaked in sweat. Then, during the event itself, I’d be unable to think, my mind buzzing with fear and fantasies of running away.’
In the passage discussing this topic, he even threw in a criticism of his brother, claiming Prince William teased him after he suffered one particular panic attack while speaking at a public event. He wrote that the future king laughed at him as he came off stage, saying: ‘Harold! Look at you! You’re drenched.’
But his fear of public speaking hasn’t stopped him accepting an invitation to give a keynote speech at Power House, a conference for 450 estate agents in Toronto, Canada, next month.
The organisers say of the conference: ‘This is your chance to hear from influential leaders, political pundits and powerful insiders on all things real estate policy, housing supply and the Canadian economy.’
Members of the Ontario Real Estate Association will have to cough up C$299 (£163) for the privilege, while non-members will have to pay an even steeper fee of C$499 (£272). It’s not clear how much of this revenue will go on settling Harry’s appearance fee.
News of the Duke’s appearance, which I reported yesterday in my Daily Mail social diary, Eden Confidential, has amused his old schoolmates at Eton College, where he was not known for his incisive contributions.
‘I’m not sure how much I would pay to hear Harry hold forth on housing supply in Canada,’ laughed one Old Etonian when he learned of the Duke’s speech.
That said, Harry, 41, has developed some experience of the property market in recent years. While he was brought up in royal homes and lived in Clarence House and Kensington Palace as a single man, he bought his first property – a mansion in Montecito, California – for £19.5million in 2020.
With no fewer than 13 (and-a-half) bathrooms, it is a substantial property, which boasts a wine cellar, cinema, gym, spa, pool and tennis court.
Last year, I revealed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had also bought a home on the coast of Portugal.
Harry’s experience of the Canadian housing market has been largely confined to visits to the three-bedroom home in Toronto where Meghan lived while she was filming the legal drama series Suits during the early days of their courtship.
After giving up their roles as working royals in 2020, the couple lived in a seafront mansion on Vancouver Island, Canada, for a couple of months before moving to Los Angeles as Covid lockdowns began.
Delegates at the Canadian conference have been advised that King Charles’s younger son will ‘bring a powerful message of service and leadership to the Power House stage’.
This description led one royal source to tell me, rather pointedly: ‘Harry and Meghan gave up their message of service and leadership when they left Britain and their royal duties behind. Presumably, they will now give speeches to whoever pays them.’
As he addresses a room full of estate agents, Harry could well ponder over the very different audiences he might be standing in front of had he and Meghan chosen to remain as working royals.
After all, his brother William gave a powerful speech about the environment to dozens of world leaders, including the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, at the COP30 climate-change summit in Brazil earlier this month.
William’s speech followed his appearance at the Earthshot Prize ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, where he handed out the latest batch of £1million grants to five activists devoted to solving environmental problems.
The scheme was established by William in 2020 ‘to find, support and celebrate those who turn bold ideas into real solutions to repair our planet’.
Meanwhile, the charity’s income hit £24million in the latest financial year, its highest to date. No less than £23million came in donations, including £5million from The American Friends of the Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Harry might also look to the example set by his sister-in-law, the Princess of Wales, who made headlines this week with her first public speech in two years.
She called on business leaders to prioritise ‘time and tenderness’ alongside profit and success at a summit in the City of London organised by the Royal Foundation’s Centre for Early Childhood.
Indeed, Harry had hoped that he could concentrate on philanthropic projects such as his admirable Invictus Games for injured soldiers and leave the task of money-making to Meghan.
The plan was that she would make a fortune through her glossy Netflix series and its spin-off lifestyle business, but the fact that he is having to undertake public-speaking jobs, such as the Canadian gig, suggests that he needs to bring in a few dollars, too.
After meeting the King at Clarence House in September, Harry declared that the ‘focus has to be on my dad’. As I have previously reported, Harry is desperate to return to this country with Meghan and their two children. Following his visit to Britain, he told anti-monarchy newspaper The Guardian: ‘This week has definitely brought that closer.’
Next month, as Harry gazes round a conference hall full of estate agents, he may well ask himself whether he and Meghan have made the right decisions.
