I was sceptical about Prince Harry, but after seeing him speak I ended up kind of liking him

April 17, 2026 — 11:15am

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Before Prince Harry took the stage at a Melbourne mental health summit, I texted my ABC broadcaster mate Virginia Trioli a selfie: “Ready for Harry to talk about workplace burnout when he’s never had a workplace!”

Virginia and I have enjoyed a few rollicking public and private debates on the Sussexes, who I see as talented opportunists. She asked if I was there to “troll” Harry: “I bet you end up kind of liking him.”

That’s what I was there to find out. Did I? And if you saw Haz in real life, would you?

First, a bit of scene setting. Harry was 25 minutes late, which left host Professor Melinda Edwards improvising to 300 people who’d paid $1000-plus a head to have their minds blown by a duke.

She was awesome. Riffed about Finland’s energy technology, kelp cultivation, a Bhutanese dish of molten fat:........

© The Age