On Sunday, the Sussexes confirmed that they would head to Nigeria for what amounts to a state visit, at the request of the Nigerian government. And oh by the way, Harry will pop over to London for a day to attend an Invictus service at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Meghan won’t be joining him. So far, the whining and crying from royalists and royal reporters has been really funny. I’m sure it will turn into something altogether unpleasant over the next week, but right now, the immediate reaction is “why isn’t Meghan coming to London???” and “how dare the Sussexes act like working royals??” And now this, from The Daily Beast’s Royalist column: “Prince Harry Is Heading Back to the U.K. Can William Forgive Him?” You guys.
Prince Harry is to return to the U.K. next week for a church service celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games, his paralympic-style games event for wounded servicemen. Harry’s potential attendance at the service on May 8 has been rumored for weeks. However, it was finally confirmed Sunday morning on Invictus social media accounts.
There was no mention of Meghan Markle in the announcement, and she is not expected to join her husband, but The Daily Beast has approached the Sussexes office for clarification on the matter.
There will now be intense focus on which members of the royal family Harry will meet when in the U.K. Spokespeople for the U.K. royals did not respond to requests for comment, but Harry is understood to be on improved terms with his father King Charles, whom he raced over to see after his cancer diagnosis, and is likely to want to meet him. His father, who has recently said he will return to public duties, may well reciprocate. However, relations with Queen Camilla are still understood to be fraught following his public attacks on her, and Harry has recently chosen not to wear a Coronation medal bearing Charles and Camilla’s likeness.
Prince William is understood not to have spoken to Harry since Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis. He believes Harry “sold out” the royal family by making tens of millions of dollars by revealing family secrets in Spare.
Harry’s camp have let it be known he reached out privately to the princess after her cancer diagnosis. However, Harry was not told about her diagnosis in advance of Kate’s bombshell video message, suggesting trust is strained between the two parties.
The timing of the announcement on a weekend when royal aides might have hoped the focus would be on the king’s return to work this week is likely to infuriate palace aides.
“The timing of the announcement on a weekend when royal aides might have hoped the focus would be on the king’s return to work this week is likely to infuriate palace aides.” My take is that the British government – likely with a big push from Veterans Affairs minister Johnny Mercer – took it upon themselves to organize the Invictus service, and the Windsors thought it was a good idea because they love nothing more than creating events which Harry “must” attend. The biggest annoyance for the palace aides is probably that Harry didn’t confirm his attendance until now, and that within hours of the confirmation, the Nigerian government confirmed their news, that the Sussexes would visit them. But yeah, I can also see how Charles would probably be annoyed that his big “back to work” thunder was being stolen in a minor way.
As for which family members Harry might see…. I don’t know, but I’m sure those peeved palace aides will rush right out and tell us in the coming days. We’ll probably hear that Charles is “too busy” to see Harry and that William is making a point of ignoring his brother’s visit. I would imagine William will be quite peeved at being FORCED to schedule some busy work for May 8th too.
Also: Palmer’s tweet cracked me up. The despicable way she was treated, I hope she never, ever comes back.
Time can be a great healer so it’s difficult to be certain but it really does look as if Meghan has no plans to return to the United Kingdom.
— Richard Palmer (@RoyalReporter) April 29, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.