The Prince of Cringe

Prince Harry’s place in the British royal family presents an age-old conundrum. His existence as King Charles’ second son, the so-called spare—not the heir—is a relic of the Middle Ages, when elder sons of the noble class got the lion’s share of the land and titles. Back then, the latter offspring, screwed over by the laws of primogeniture, looked elsewhere for ill-gotten fame and plunder. Some became drifters or sellswords; others voyaged to the Holy Land to pillage Muslim cities during the Crusades.