Something gets lost in the shuffle of royal gossip, palace briefings and the heir’s daily tantrums: King Charles has been quietly making some interesting moves to reconcile with Prince Harry. Soon after Harry lost his security case one year ago, Harry went on camera and gave a ballsy, emotional interview to the BBC, where he called out the British establishment and said outright that the Windsors will have blood on their hands if anything happens to him or his family. The palace reeled, and their tone has shifted significantly ever since. Last summer, Charles sent his director of communications, Tobyn Andreae, to meet with two of Harry and Meghan’s reps, Meredith Maines and Liam Maguire, in London. Soon after, Harry and Charles met in person for the first time in more than a year. I believe that, since last September’s meeting, Harry and Charles have been in communication with much more frequency. Charles still has anti-Sussex people around him, like his private secretary Clive Alderton, but he’s also appointing people with different perspectives, like his newish deputy private secretary Theo Rycroft. Well, the Mail has a curious exclusive about Rycroft’s plans.
One of the King’s newest and most trusted aides has vowed to repair the rift between Princes William and Harry to spare the monarch from further ‘great pain’. Former diplomat Theo Rycroft, who became deputy private secretary to the King in February, is understood to have made it his ‘number one mission’ and career ambition to reunite the pair, who have not spoken since Queen Elizabeth’s funeral in 2022.
Sources say Mr Rycroft, married to Flora Astor, half-sister of Samantha Cameron, believes the situation has become ‘f****** ridiculous’ and is keen to resolve it ‘urgently’ for the King’s sake. One source said: ‘He thinks it’s time to knock their heads together. The mood is, “He’s not wrong”.
‘Theo’s a very reasonable guy and incredibly nice, and he completely gets that this is a source of great pain to the King and wants to help him resolve it. He sees his job as helping the King resolve it.’
His determination comes amid speculation the King may meet Harry when he flies to Britain from his California home in July to help prepare for the Invictus Games in Birmingham next year. But whether Mr Rycroft can persuade William to meet his brother too may be a tall order.
William has allegedly barred any mention of Harry in his presence following damaging revelations in his memoir Spare and the Sussexes’ departure from Royal life, in which they gave an Oprah Winfrey interview accusing an unnamed royal of racism.
Friends of Mr Rycroft say he has quickly gained influence within the King’s inner circle, not simply because of his establishment connections but because of his reputation as a calm and politically astute operator capable of navigating difficult personalities and delicate situations – skills he could put to great use in trying to reunite the warring brothers.
His credentials are strong. An Oxford-educated lawyer and career diplomat, Mr Rycroft joined the Foreign Office in 2005 and has held a string of senior international roles. They include legal adviser to the Prime Minister, head of international law at the Attorney General’s Office and later deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Paris.
Crucially, he is close to William. During his Paris posting he worked closely with William on several high-profile international engagements, including the Prince of Wales’s hugely scrutinised trip for the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral, an event that also saw William meet Donald Trump. Palace insiders say Mr Rycroft impressed Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace with his handling of the visit – and the King and Queen’s US trip last month – and marvelled at his ability to help bridge diplomatic sensitivities between Mr Trump and the climate-campaigning King.
One insider said: ‘Theo believes that Harry and William need to be forced to shake hands and allow Charles to repair his relationship with Harry.’
The source adds: ‘I would be very surprised if Harry doesn’t see Charles when he is in the UK. Theo would not be one of the many aides at the palace wishing to block a meeting. But while he may be outnumbered, after the US visit he is the most respected man in the building right now.’
It is unclear whether Harry will bring Meghan and their children Archie, seven, and four-year-old Lilibet to Britain with him in July. Doing so would rely on the Home Office granting his family police protection, which remains under review.
Is this actually quite tedious? Yes. It takes six-plus years and an army of sycophantic bureaucrats and diplomats to “figure out” a situation which should have and could have been solved quite easily within the family, if the family wasn’t full of racists, degenerates and morons. “How do we solve this intractable problem of William being violently jealous of Harry?” Jesus Christ, you guys. What’s even funnier is that for years now (since early 2023), Harry has absolutely maintained that he only really wants to reconcile with Charles, not William. So is Theo Rycroft going to facilitate a reunion between Charles and the Sussexes AND William and Harry? Will there be another summit? What will be done if William throws another violent tantrum at the new summit? And most importantly, will someone fix the printer?
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
