Prince Harry met King Charles for tea on Wednesday, and it was like the entire British media ecosystem completely shifted in one hour. There had been wall-to-wall screaming, crying and throwing up about Harry’s four-day visit to the UK, and every outlet was desperately trying to help the left-behinds ride Harry’s charismatic coattails. Now it’s official: Harry and Charles are speaking face-to-face, a page has been turned and Charles is less of a dogsh-t father than he was on Tuesday. But what about William? Who could forget poor, angry William. William, who has been wailing “don’t forget about meeeee” all week. Well, here’s something interesting: a new column from the Daily Mail’s Liz Jones. Jones has always been less of a lunatic than most other Mail columnists, but that’s a low bar to clear. Some highlights from her new column, “Harry is doing everything right and I am overjoyed at his long-awaited reunion with Charles – now mean William needs to get off his high horse.” Some highlights:
Harry’s good week: The meeting [with the king] was during Harry’s four-day visit to the UK, where he has been his old, spontaneous, warm self jousting with children at the WellChild Awards in London on Monday and just, you know, donating a million quid to Children In Need – from his own pocket. And his foundation donated another £370,000 to projects supporting injured children in Ukraine and Gaza.
William’s high horse: All of that, a visit sprinkled with stardust, up against the reports that William – who was a hop, skip and a jump away from his younger brother – did not offer a handshake from his high horse. It was a mean act of froideur that suddenly threw the Firm into relief. Just who is the baddy here?
Harry’s donations: Of course the haters said, well if Harry wants to give money to charity he should do so quietly and anonymously. I disagree. I think Harry needs some arnica on his bruises from the cruel social media that criticises his every turn. I’ve always been his and Meghan’s most loyal – though sometimes exasperated – supporter. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are flawed yes, but aren’t we all? Harry arrives with a great big olive branch and is confronted at an icy distance by the bald and bearded one brandishing a great big hacksaw.
Harry’s visit in February 2024: It has been a year and a half since Harry’s transatlantic dash to see his father after hearing of the cancer diagnosis in February 2024. The King’s snub – he flew to Norfolk with Camilla almost immediately, not even offering a, ‘Do you want to tag along?’ – made him seem ungenerous to say the least. I would say mean. I imagine Harry felt confused and conflicted. He didn’t choose to be born into this life: constantly scrutinised, his wife pilloried to a degree that would drive most of us to the unthinkable.
Harry’s substantive events compared to William’s dry busywork: This visit from Harry has suddenly put the official Royal duties into sharp relief. Harry is delving into his own pocket. He is championing causes that mean something, that are not twee, but gritty. Visiting Nottingham – the scene of so much heartbreak after the brutal murders of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates in 2023 – to talk about knife crime on Tuesday held far more gravitas and relevance than eating scones with the WI. The Firm lacks imagination and awareness. Compare Harry, tie-less, open shirt, at the Blast Injuries Studies visit Wednesday – Harry’s banter is spontaneous, priceless: ‘Here’s a good-looking man!’ – with William at a new mental health hub in Cardiff this afternoon, buttoned up with his tie duly knotted: this is ruling by numbers, not emotion and instinct.
Harry is the bigger person: Harry comes across as being the bigger person. If the visit doesn’t go well with Charles, will it be the King who looks small?
“Harry arrives with a great big olive branch and is confronted at an icy distance by the bald and bearded one brandishing a great big hacksaw”– lmao. And this: “The Firm lacks imagination and awareness.” Very true. The side-by-side comparison between Harry and William’s events this week is brutal for William. There’s not an emotional-support poll big enough to deny what everyone has seen this week – that people were genuinely thrilled to see Harry, and that William is too dull and unimaginative to even inspire his most loyal base (the royal reporters) to cover his busywork events. As for William needing to “get off his high horse” or whatever… I’ve assumed for years now that Harry contacts William’s office ahead of or during visits as a mere courtesy. Like, “Hey, I’m going to be in town, heads up.” And William thrashes around, rage-shrieking that he will never, ever meet Harry. It’s less of a “high horse” and more like William childishly insisting that Harry is desperate to see him and William is “brutally rejecting” his brother.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
