IT is a photo that tells the tale of two princes – one a British royal who turned his back on his duties, the other a wannabe accused of exploiting his spurious connections for reality TV fame.
But royal watchers are now asking if Prince Harry and Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe, who posed for a selfie together at an awards bash this weekend, are really so different.
The pair met after Harry received an award for being a “Living Legend of Aviation”, joking on stage about his first time in a helicopter and beaming at the D-list crowd, which included Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, Miss Teen California Taliya Peiris and artist Mimi Stuart, who showed off a portrait of Harry in his Apache cockpit with the words: “He has a magnificent, big helmet.”
The royal was among very few famous faces at the £1,100-a-head ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on Friday, the most high-profile being Jeff Bezos and John Travolta.
Other guests were decidedly lower rent — among them Prince Mario-Max, a controversial reality TV star whose connections to German royalty have regularly been questioned.
Royal expert Angela Levin, who spent 15 months with Harry while writing his biography, said: “It’s a very sad situation. Harry was once loved around the world and often named as the favourite royal, but now he’s very near the bottom.
“He is lost, he doesn’t know what he wants and it was a very desperate move to accept a ridiculous gong like this.
“Harry looks foolish and it was a silly thing to do. He clearly wasn’t proud of himself because he crept in and out via the back door.
“There was no, ‘Here I am, amazing flying man Harry’. If you were happy you’d make a big entrance and exit. He hasn’t done that.”
His wife Meghan was due to attend the ceremony with him, but pulled out at the last minute, apparently because one of their children was unwell.
Attending alone, it would be fair for Harry to feel a little uncomfortable as he joined other Living Legends of Aviation winners, who include the first two men to set foot on the moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
Another of his fellow winners on the night was Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s fiancée Lauren Sanchez, who was honoured for running a company that offers an aerial filming service.
And Harry’s decision to accept the award brought considerable backlash from experts.
Among them was Baron West of Spithead, former First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, who said it was “pathetic” and “nonsense” for organisers “to pick someone like Prince Harry”.
The royal spent ten years in military service as an Army helicopter co-pilot and gunner, including two tours of Afghanistan, yet for many the award seems unfounded.
Angela Levin went on: “It’s quite obvious to anyone that his career of flying, albeit in an Apache, doesn’t mean he can compare himself to people who have walked on the moon.
“It is unlikely he would have been given this award if it was not for the fact that he is a prince.”
If Harry is doomed to attending celebrity events purely on the basis of his title, then this fact was rather uncomfortably underlined when he was ambushed for a selfie by Prince Mario-Max.
Once dubbed the “King of Trash TV”, the German “royal” is “a negative human being who people laugh at”, according to Angela.
She said: “Prince Mario-Max just wants fame and is taking advantage of Harry.
“Is Harry too naive to realise he’s being seen with this impostor and taken for a ride?”
Mario-Max has often been accused of bringing the name of German royalty into disrepute by his apparent love of appearing on reality TV shows and attending red carpet events.
The 46-year-old inherited his “prince” title at the age of 31, after his adoptive mother Antonia married Prince Waldemar zu Schaumburg-Lippe in 2008.
Germany does not have an official royal family, but the House of Lippe, which once ruled over a number of small German states, maintains its aristocratic titles.
Mario-Max has been accused of “harvesting” the royal name “for personal gain” by the head of the family, Prince Alexander of Schaumburg-Lippe, who was outraged by his recent appearance alongside the Duke of Sussex.
He said: “It’s very painful for me. Prince Harry cannot stoop lower than appearing with him. I would advise him to stay away from this man.”
On social media, Mario-Max calls himself a “Royal and TV anchor”, while on his website he claims to have connections stretching back to William of Orange, which would make him a very distant cousin of the British royals.
It has been enough to launch his career in reality TV.
In 2011 he appeared in the US programme The Millionaire Matchmaker, where he boasted about his royal connections and longing for a woman with a “natural appearance . . . not fake”.
Three years later he followed it with a stint on Germany’s Celebrity Big Brother, which lasted eight days before he was evicted, and a saucy comedy series called Travel Boobs.
He has regularly courted the media, initially making his name as a showbiz and royal reporter before promoting businesses including a “wealth elixir” which he flogged on a TV shopping channel.
Mario-Max’s Instagram page — where he has 42,900 followers — is full of photos from glitzy red carpet events and snaps with celebrities including Paris Hilton, Lady Gaga, Andrew Lloyd Webber and now Prince Harry.
After his encounter with the latter, he congratulated the duke on his award, writing: “VERY MUCH DESERVED” — yet online, unimpressed commenters have branded the event as “cringe” and “a joke”.
One user sniped: “Two irrelevant middle-aged men without serious pursuit using their titles to grift in superficial Hollywood.”
Another wrote: “Jesus! One is exploiting dead parent, the other dead step-parent, birds of the feather. This gave me second-hand embarrassment.”
Yet another said: “Hey Prince Mario — are you related to this faux prince? Harry has just joined this club. He is now a faux prince. A celebrity. Irrelevant.”
Harry may not have known who he was posing with, but experts say it is the sort of association that could prove damaging as the Sussexes try to build media careers.
It follows their £78million Netflix deal reportedly being at risk, Meghan’s podcast series with Spotify coming to an end and the TV show South Park publicly mocking them.
Brand expert Mark Borkowski said: “There’s a lack of strategic planning by Harry and being photographed with Mario-Max will have raised eyebrows.
“There was a profound tinge of desperation about his decision to accept the Living Legends award.
“There has been a huge amount of debate on this award from people in the aviation industry and among real heroes too.
“You have to be careful when you associate with an award or an event to make sure it has the credibility that matches your own. If not, it will tarnish your brand.
“Harry receiving this award will give a lot of ammunition to naysayers. It’s unlikely to derail someone of his stature, but he must take stock now.
“If you accept an award with no credibility, it attracts people looking for publicity and there are dangers of who you choose to align yourself with.
“Being involved in an event that’s faced so much criticism is not a good start to the year.
“The way he is working currently suggests it’s going to be a rocky old road for the equilibrium of his brand.”
Indeed, it seems that in events such as this one he may never find the inner peace he got from flying.
Accepting his award, he said: “For me, flying has been a transcendent experience.
“A close encounter with magic, an invitation to both protect freedom . . . and to feel free, and funnily enough, an opportunity to ground oneself, without actually being grounded.”
He added: “Flying taught me the power of discipline, the power of patience and, beyond that, the power of trusting your gut.”
On the evidence of this weekend, it seems his gut might no longer be giving him the right advice.
