This week, Tom Sykes at the Daily Beast got a lot of attention for his exclusive based on an extremely funny tantrum from “royal sources” and “friends of Prince William.” The tantrum was all about how the Duchess of Sussex sent a gift basket to her friend Jamie Kern Lima with a notecard, and the notecard was printed “HRH The Duchess of Sussex.” Gasp! Obviously, this means that Meghan is profiting from her HRH, and she and Harry pinky-swore promised to not use their HRHs for anything! They promised at the Sandringham Summit, you know, the summit which was only organized after Meghan left the country because they wanted to decide her future without her presence in the room? The same summit where QEII emphasized that the Sussexes should receive security for a year? The same summit where William apparently went ballistic and began shrieking at his brother in front of QEII, Charles and the courtiers? The same summit where William’s courtiers leaked everything to Dan Wootton in the middle of negotiations?
Well, “former courtiers” and Prince William’s “friends” huffed, puffed and raged to the Daily Beast this week that “Charles might be happy to put up with this, but William won’t. He loathes and despises Harry and Meghan with every bone in his body, he believes they have betrayed everything the family stands for and the idea that they are using their royal status as a calling card will enrage him.” Another source told Sykes: “Charles has completely lost control… Meghan using her HRH exposes how weak and enfeebled he is. She knows he won’t do anything. There is no way King William will stand for this. The titles will simply be removed when he is king. A way will be found.” As you can imagine, those same courtiers and friends also have Richard Eden on speed-dial and they had to huff and puff to him as well. I’ll spare you Eden’s histrionics and just get to the relevant parts:
QEII was concerned about the Sussexes’ money-making plans: Insiders have previously told me that the Queen was gravely concerned about the Sussexes’ plans to make money. She knew all too well from previous experience – such as with Edward and Sophie’s commercial projects 25 years ago – of the scandals that can lurk for royals trying to earn money. That is why she made her grandson and his American wife agree not to use their HRH titles in their commercial ventures.
Meghan used her title in the note to Kern Lima & she published a Ukrainian official’s message which used the HRH: While her representatives have denied she is continuing to use the title for commercial purposes, it is not the first time the duchess has publicised it in recent weeks. A fortnight ago, she posted a message she’d received on her Instagram account, addressing her as ‘Your Royal Highness’. As I noted at the time, it seemed a deliberately provocative act to publish the message, which had been sent by a Ukrainian government minister.
Rebellious teenagers: And my sources question whether provocation could be the aim. ‘Harry and Meghan are like rebellious teenagers,’ one insider told me this week. ‘They’re constantly pushing the boundaries to test what they can get away with.’
Charles won’t do anything: Senior courtiers have made clear that they do not expect King Charles to take action against his younger son and daughter-in-law. Our monarch has always avoided confrontation and has sought to keep options open for the Sussexes should they seek a return to royal duties. For instance, he has not removed Harry from his role as a Counsellor of State, which could see his son standing in for royal duties in the case of an emergency.
William won’t be so indulgent: But, from what I have been told, William would not be so indulgent of his brother. This week, US outlet The Daily Beast cited sources who claimed the Prince of Wales wants to ‘strip’ Harry and Meghan of their titles when he takes the throne. While Kensington Palace has not commented on the claims, my insiders say they expect the Prince of Wales to take some sort of action against his brother and sister-in-law once he is King.
How William will respond: One pointed to William’s public denial after the Sussexes’ explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021. ‘We are very much not a racist family,’ he told a reporter when asked about Meghan’s claim that a family member had questioned the skin colour of her future children. ‘That gives you a taste of the no-nonsense approach that he would take,’ my source told me.
“That gives you a taste of the no-nonsense approach that he would take” – I’m sorry, so William’s big incandescent-with-rage plan is to just issue another dumb lie like “We are very much not a racist family”??? That’s it? William will stagger out, half in the bag, and stammer: “We are very much not a family which will allow a Black woman to use HRH.” In recent weeks, there have been several briefings about “what William will do as king” and I thought it would be helpful to compile a list of King Willy’s plans: remove the Sussexes’ titles; issue a statement in the vein of “we are very much not a racist family”; continue to be extremely racist; go on school runs; disappear for months at a time; never do bread-and-butter royal engagements; rage out any time someone suggests that Kate work; and skip state funerals to go to football matches.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
