Growing up in post-war central Liverpool, we were raised on stories about “the war”. Everyone I knew had either lost someone close or knew somebody who had never returned home.
The May Blitz of 1941 cast a long shadow over the city. In our Anfield home, gas masks remained hanging from nails on the cellar wall – just in case.
Remembrance Sunday is the moment when the nation comes together to mourn and remember. As Culture Secretary, I considered hosting the ceremony at the Cenotaph the greatest honour of my political career.
This year, as every year, the deeply moving service and the precisely organised procession of 10,000 Armed Forces veterans took place in the presence of the King and Queen, and the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Yet it was another, much less grand occasion some 70 miles away that captured my attention: Prince Harry’s surprise visit to a local Remembrance ceremony in the small Northamptonshire market town of Brackley.
How different this was from a year earlier, when he and Meghan were criticised for attending a Kardashian party in Los Angeles on the same evening that the Royal Family gathered for the poignant Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall.
On Sunday, Harry arrived apparently alone. He wore a suit and tie rather than military dress, along with a poppy and his own service medals pinned to his overcoat. He stood at the back of the crowd throughout the 45-minute ceremony.
He had come to pay his respects and, no doubt, to remember the comrades he lost during a decade in the military, including two tours of Afghanistan. His commitment to veterans has never been in doubt, particularly given the success of the Invictus Games, which he co-founded.
Prince Harry made a surprise appearance at a local Remembrance ceremony in Brackley, a small market town in Northamptonshire
Watching the footage online, I thought I detected an early flicker of tension in his expression. Was he concerned about how he would be received? He need not have worried. Local people welcomed him warmly, and his relief was obvious as he relaxed, chatting easily with the small crowd.
Is this not the Harry we once knew – and now miss? The great leveller who could talk to anyone about almost anything, rather than the Harry of recent years, weighed down by grudges, legal battles and what often appeared to be a permanent sense of victimhood.
Sometimes things are said that can never be unsaid, forgiven or put entirely behind us. His tawdry, point-scoring memoir Spare and the excruciating interview he and Meghan gave to Oprah Winfrey cost him any realistic claim to membership of The Firm. The King has made his position clear: the Sussexes are private citizens, with no route back to life as working Royals.
I have been a fierce critic of the couple and remain one. But in Brackley, Harry offered a glimpse of a possible role – one that neither the King nor William can occupy in the same way because of their positions as monarch and heir.
Harry has a natural gift for connecting with people. He is at his best among soldiers, veterans, older people and children. Could he create a role that serves the public interest and enhances the reputation of the Royal Family without being viewed as a rival to the working Royals? Affection for Harry still exists and, I would argue, will never disappear among the millions who loved his mother Diana and cried as they watched him, aged 12, walk behind her coffin.
During one of his many youthful misadventures, I was among the first to defend him because I saw qualities in him and the potential for a meaningful future role in the life of the nation.
On Sunday, I was reminded of that potential. With fewer grudges and more smiles, a happier Harry could once again win over the British public and become the People’s Prince.
The Nvidia affair feels all too familiar
What was Jensen Huang thinking?
The founder, chief executive and president of US technology giant Nvidia has built one of the world’s most successful companies. He is widely regarded as a relentless perfectionist and a workaholic who expects nothing less than total commitment from his employees.
Now, however, he is at the centre of one of Silicon Valley’s biggest scandals after admitting to an affair with Alice Huang, who is suspected of being a Chinese spy.
On Sunday, he publicly apologised to his wife, Lori, and their two children, both of whom work at Nvidia. But that is not what concerns the wider public.
The technology industry wants to know what commercially sensitive information may have been passed to Ms Huang as Nvidia’s share price continues to fall.
It is a dispiritingly familiar pattern in business, Westminster and elsewhere: powerful men who cannot resist temptation and are willing to put everything at risk for sex. They assume that status, wealth and influence will protect them from the consequences. Too often, they appear equally indifferent to the people they hurt.
Huang may be celebrated as an exceptional businessman. As a human being, however, the verdict looks rather less flattering.
The shirtless photograph Gordon Ramsay shared online while celebrating his 60th birthday
Gordon is in shape at 60
Gordon Ramsay marked his 60th birthday by sharing a shirtless photograph in which he looked leaner and fitter than he did at 40.
The days when men celebrated turning 60 with a sports car, a hairpiece and a questionable new wardrobe appear to be over. Now it is more likely to involve calorie counting and long hours in the gym.
Ramsay certainly has an incentive. His closest friend is David Beckham, and nobody could deny that Beckham’s physique sets a high bar.
Maya Jama has announced that she is stepping down as host of Love Island after nine seasons. Who could blame her? Having won a host of new admirers on Celebrity Traitors and made an intriguing cameo in the Netflix hit The Gentlemen, she appears ready to leave downmarket reality television behind and pursue bigger opportunities. Let us hope the gamble pays off.
My Remembrance Day reflection
Remembrance Sunday has passed for another year, but for many of us November 11 remains a day of solemnity and personal reflection.
At 11am tomorrow, during the two-minute silence, my family will remember my great-uncle, who died in 1918, and, on my late husband’s side, his grandfather, who lost his life at the Hindenburg Line, also in 1918.
They shall not grow old…
