We’ll have to pace ourselves, because I have a feeling that the next four weeks are going to be full of royalist and deranger shenanigans, all around the Sussex family’s likely trip to the UK in July. Remember how the British and Australian tabloids tried to sabotage Prince Harry & Meghan’s Australian trip? It will be like that, only much, much worse. The only thing that might hinder the sabotage is if King Charles and his courtiers make it known that the Sussexes were invited and that shenanigans will not be tolerated. I will try to track what the most clued-in royal rota reporters are saying fresh from their WhatsApp. While the Mail’s Becky English hasn’t chimed in (curious), the Mail’s Martin Robinson had a big exclusive about how Charles plans to “set aside” time for the entire Sussex family.
King Charles wants reconciliation with Prince Harry and will set aside time for him, Meghan, Archie and Lilibet if they make a rare trip to Britain next month, it was claimed today. The monarch would likely want to keep any reunion private – and meet on a royal property – if the family do all visit the UK together in mid-July.
But Queen Camilla may find an excuse not to be there and there is ‘no way’ the Prince and Princess of Wales will want to be in the same room as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, experts have said.
Palace aides will also be wary that Harry and Meghan could use the trip as another relaunch amid reports they could be accompanied to the UK by a Netflix camera crew.
‘Cynics would say Harry and Meghan feel their star power in the US has diminished and so they need an injection of royal magic,’ royal expert and biographer Phil Dampier said.
But not everyone in Harry’s family will be as keen to see them as King Charles, particularly his wife and eldest son. Phil Dampier said: ‘The King wants a reconciliation with his son and wants to see his grandchildren. I think he will want to avoid a public meeting on this trip as it would turn into a circus, but would meet them privately. But whether Queen Camilla is keen to meet is another matter. It wouldn’t surprise me if she has some family commitment to go to and avoids them. She will feel she was badly treated in Harry’s book Spare.’
He added: ‘There is now no way, however, that Harry will meet up with William and Catherine. He [Harry] has been making it clear in recent months that he wants a reconciliation with his family, but how genuine that is only he knows. Harry’s aim is to get him along to the Invictus Games as guest of honour next year.’
Phil Dampier also believes that the fact all four Sussexes are coming to the UK suggests that Harry has had ‘assurances’ they will get taxpayer-funded armed bodyguards.
‘No one knows what security arrangements have been made for Harry and Meghan’s trip next month, but the fact she is coming with their children indicates they have been given some assurances,’ he said. ‘It may be that security is provided on a case-by-case basis in future. I don’t think taxpayers would want to finance their security full time, so this is a compromise.’
Royal commentator Richard Palmer says the Palace remains worried about Meghan and Harry’s motives for wanting contact with the Royal Family again. Aides are concerned about whether to trust them, given all the secrets they have spilled since Megxit. He said: ‘There remains a fair degree of suspicion within the Royal Household, and there is the fear that they will use any meetings with the monarch to try to boost their commercial brand. But against that, the King wants to have a relationship with his grandchildren. If Archie and Lilibet are coming over, then I think it makes it highly likely that the Sussexes will spend time with the King. There’s a good chance that this could be the start of the family coming to terms with the rift and starting to try to rebuild relationships.’
LMAO – “whether Queen Camilla is keen to meet is another matter. It wouldn’t surprise me if she has some family commitment to go to and avoids them.” Don’t threaten the Sussexes with a good time! Charles managed to meet with Harry solo last September too, meaning Camilla was not in the room and she wasn’t able to feed this particular tabloid beast. I hope Charles pulls the same thing this time around, and orders Cam to decamp to Ray Mill or whatever. The next four weeks are going to be full of William and Kate thrashing around, screaming about how they’ll never, ever see Harry, Meghan or the children. Again, no one asked to see W&K. I do think it’s pitiful that William has never met his niece, and he’s probably only met his nephew once or twice when Archie was a baby. But it is what it is – William made his choices, and hey, Camilla got exactly what she wanted. She managed to successfully drive a wedge between Diana’s sons.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Meghan’s Instagram.
