The Daily Mail published a particularly venomous piece by AN Wilson on Monday. Wilson is one of their columnists who only gets dusted off in extreme emergencies, and I guess that’s what the “secret peace summit” is now. The Mail on Sunday ran the exclusive about the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes’ representatives meeting, in London, with King Charles’s communications guru Tobyn Andreae. The aftermath of the summit story has featured increasingly hysterical and panicked briefings from Prince William’s camp as William tries and fails to insert himself into the story by any means necessary. Well, AN Wilson decided to write this: “William and Kate would probably be glad to never see Harry and Meghan again. But this is why they must make peace with the Sussexes… and the disastrous consequences I foresee if they do not.” I’ll spare you the most vile accusations and insults thrown at the Sussexes and get to the main thrust:
The Sussexes will eventually become less interesting!! At the moment, the Duke of Sussex is stuck in California with his chicken coop. His earning potential seems rather less than that of his ambitious wife; and, as the years pass, even Meghan’s capacity to earn money from TV work will dry up. In time, the pair will likely grow less and less interesting to the general public: attention will pass instead to the next generation.
Forget about peace talks between Harry & Charles, what about WILLIAM?? Although the present ‘peace talks’ are seemingly being conducted between the King’s haughtiest flunkies and Harry’s sharp-elbowed American team, the real challenge is going to be effecting an entirely different reconciliation: between Harry and his brother.
Charles will be dead sooner rather than later: The overwhelming likelihood, of course, is that the King, now 76 and still being treated for cancer, will predecease his forty-something sons. All those who have William’s best interests at heart – and this must include everyone who wants a bright future for the monarchy – must be begging him to extend some kind of olive branch to his wayward, disloyal and maddening younger sibling, to say nothing of Harry’s manifestly difficult wife. If Harry and his father find a way to be reconciled, that would be a fine thing. But it is the next reign – that of William V – that is likely to be longer and of far more consequence.
“Half-in, half out” could be back on the table: Consider one possibility. William offers his brother an olive branch and he accepts it. Harry and Meghan can then perhaps achieve something close to what they originally asked for – being ‘part-time royals’. They might resume occupation, for part of the year at least, of some grace-and-favour mansion in Windsor Great Park, with additional houses, perhaps, in London and Scotland. They can support British charities, perform royal duties and, in return, enjoy taxpayer-funded bodyguards and, who knows, even some recompense for being ‘working royals’. Both of them – even their enemies would admit – have some charm, while the camera loves Meghan almost as much as she relishes it.
The Sussexes would simply have to stop making so much money: Of course, the quid pro quo would be that they would have to abandon some or all of their commercial ventures, which they – and especially Meghan – might not countenance. It would also rule out any of the Duchess’s political ambitions, if she has them (she has made her Democrat leanings abundantly clear). But if such a deal could be struck, it would only enhance the strength of the monarchy and the popularity of the Royal Family. Does this seem realistic? Not remotely.
What is far more likely: The far more likely alternative, it seems to me, is that William and Kate can never find it in their hearts or brains to effect some kind of reconciliation with the Sussexes. Everyone would understand this – after the truly dreadful indiscretions of Spare, and the drip, drip, drip of spite and venom that has come from the Sussex camp since the great sundering that was Megxit. Meghan, I suspect, will never want to return on any extended basis – perhaps even at all – to this damp and diminutive island. Who knows what glittering future she imagines for herself? Kate has been through hell recently, given her health troubles, and would probably be glad never to see them again. William, rightly, stands by his wife.
What happens if Harry & Meghan live happily ever after in California: But what the Prince of Wales and all defenders of the monarchy must realise is that if Meghan and Harry are left outside – bored, disgruntled and unloved – it is inevitable that they will grow increasingly bitter. Whenever they feel the need for cash, they will give another interview, or write another book designed to inflict personal wounds on the family – reminding everyone of their status as its shrivelled offshoot. And that spells disaster. History shows that fractured dynasties do not survive. A new generation, reared on tales of exile and racism, may find their own axes to grind. It would be miles better, then, that the Sussexes be brought in from the cold. Both sides should be seeking, not only diplomatic and political help, but personal counsel.
William & Harry are both terrible?? Neither of these pampered lordlings is an easy person: and neither can ever hope to lay aside all their childhood ghosts. But they can be taught to recognise them. If William does refuse to make peace with Harry, the Sussexes will not go placidly into a dignified Californian silence. They will seethe and seek revenge. Skeletons in the family cupboard, much better locked up with the moth balls and empty coat hangers, will come dancing out – probably at some unforeseen moment when the monarchy looks even less robust than it does today.
It’s a matter of institutional life & death: Let me be clear. The institution that has served our country so well is only ever as strong as the person who wears the crown. This row between the brothers is festering, furious – and could prove fatal. When Charles vacates the stage, as one day he must, and William is anointed, a middle-aged brother in exile, on non-speakers with the sovereign but with a potential audience of billions, could do incalculable damage. It’s no exaggeration to say that this row could one day begin the process that leads to a republic. And that could come much sooner than we royalists might like to admit.
Five and a half years of this bullsh-t and it’s still the same fundamental problem: the Sussexes are crucial to the future of the monarchy, but the Windsors refuse to treat the Sussexes with respect, dignity or kindness. Instead of pleading with the Sussexes to return and promising them whatever they want, these people hurl insults at Harry and Meghan, all while pleading with William to stop being so childish, stupid and short-sighted. You cannot have it both ways: if it’s necessary to “bring the Sussexes back” and have a reconciliation, then William, Kate and Charles simply cannot continue to treat Harry and Meghan like they’re worthless. The problem isn’t “what happens if Harry and Meghan keep talking?” The larger problem continues to be “what happens to the decrepit monarchy if their two biggest stars, Harry and Meghan, continue to thrive and live happily in California for the rest of their lives?”
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
