Living life in the fast lane? On October 22, far, far removed from the royal mundanities and ceremonial obligations that have punctuated (or spoiled, some would say) his life for years, Prince Harry attended the Formula 1 Grand Prix held on the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The occasion included a visit to the pits of the reigning world champion team, Red Bull, and a chat with its boss, Britain's Christian Horner, pictured here on the right.
On that day, Prince Harry donned a navy polo shirt and a pair of dark blue denim jeans, giving shape to a monochrome silhouette sorely lacking in relief and interest, but allowing us at least one historical remark: Now the default color of all men's wardrobes in recent years, navy is a color only recently put to use. Before the mid-20th century, navy was rarely worn outside of sailors' outfits, as gray crushed everything in its path.
His Highness also wore a series of fancy bracelets on his right wrist. The first was made of wooden beads, the second of metal, the third of leather adorned with a thread of pistachio-green wool. Gri-gri? Lucky charm? Pure coquetry? No, mid-life crisis. At 39, and like more and more men, Prince Harry has been loading up his wrist with trinkets to show off his cool and slow down the fading of his youth. Spoiler: It doesn't work.
Was 49-year-old Horner also wearing a series of bracelets on his right wrist? We'd bet he was, but in the absence of proof, we'll settle for noting that the Red Bull team boss was wearing another piece frequently requisitioned by 40-somethings in search of reassurance: skinny jeans, weighted down with elastane and adorned with a particularly pronounced artificial patina. Neither of these, of course, should be worn.
Finally, with all those laminated plastic accreditations hanging around their necks, with their gleaming cords and sharp corners, how can we not return to this magnificent story from almost 20 years ago, which older football fans may remember? In 2004, a few hours before the Euro kick-off, French national team player Steve Marlet accidentally caught his accreditation tag in the eye. Suffering a torn cornea, he was unable to take part in the competition, the only major tournament for which he was called up by Les Bleus. Formula 1 drivers, on the other hand, wear helmets.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.