Young royals have dashed all hope of a republic

Nice to nose you ... Harry and Meghan attend a traditional welcome ceremony on the lawns of Government House in Wellington, yesterday. Picture: Nathan Edwards

The republic is a dead issue in ­middle Australia.

While they may not have had it in their heads as their mission in life, the sons of Princess Diana have squashed the republican movement in this country. The issue had largely slipped from the public’s consciousness even before Harry and Meghan’s trip Down Under, but in the wake of the couple’s wildly successful tour, it has now completely dis­appeared off the radar.

From the moment Harry and his 37-year-old wife stepped on to the Sydney tarmac on October 15, it was clear this royal couple could effortlessly bridge the generational and class divide in a way their forebears could only imagine.

Their public appearances in Australia, as well as in Fiji and Tonga, were a blur of sunny optimism and triumphant encounters with doting war widows, excited children and veterans who had come from across the globe for the Invictus Games.

What could have been a whistle­stop tour of the provinces was a fairytale run with not an angry republican in sight.

In 2011, William married Kate Middleton and as each new child was born, there was much rejoicing in Britain. As they left the hospital carrying each new life in their swaddling clothes, the republic suffered another flesh wound.

Harry and his somewhat ­unusual choice of a bride — a ­divorced, California-born actress — was yet another masterstroke. It is obvious that they are very much in love and that is why they got married but this alliance and its approval from the Queen has given the monarchy another boost.

For the next four days, it’s New Zealand’s turn to be dazzled.

Sure enough, after Harry and Meghan smiled their way through a traditional welcome-to-country ceremony yesterday during which they rubbed noses with Maori elders, thousands of onlookers braved chilly conditions in Wellington in the hope of a handshake or a selfie with the duo.

Meghan greets the crowd at the newly unveiled UK war memorial in Wellington, New Zealand. Picture: Getty Images

Harry was treated like a pop star on this visit to our shores. No one can deny that he is a pretty impressive human being. He put himself in harm’s way in Afghanistan and now he has given many injured veterans a purpose and a reason to live when previously they had none. At the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in Sydney on Saturday night, Harry won further plaudits for speaking openly and honestly about the courage of the athletes, and even referenced his own “dark times”.

“What they are achieving isn’t impossible, nor is it magical,” he said. “They are men and women who have confronted a challenge and overcome it.

“They are ordinary people doing extraordinary things.”

On November 6, 1999, Australians rejected a republic by 6,410,787 votes to 5,273,024. There was little unity among republicans about the kind of republic we should endorse. Almost two decades later, it’s ironic that it’s been Diana’s sons who have turned the republic into a dead issue as it was the divorce of their parents that brought the monarchy to its knees.

If the opportunity came, I would always vote for a republic, but there is no taste for one at the moment. Australians should ask themselves when was the last time they were involved in a conversation on the issue. I suspect in most cases it has been years since the topic was brought up. In the suburbs of our great cities, in the country towns and the villages that make up our society, this is not in the top 20 issues.

Australians worry about electricity prices, a government that can’t find a way forward and static wages. The republic is not on their agenda.