The new Prince and Princess of Wales – William and Kate – joined the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for a somber walkabout outside of Windsor Castle on Saturday. The videos and images from the walkabout were instantly major international news. News broadcasts have been replaying the videos on an endless loop, and the British media needed to furiously rewrite their crass “sad Harry, alone and forgotten” narratives. The walkabout was also deemed a huge success and a rare moment of good press for the new king. Meaning, everyone is now trying to take credit for it, including King Charles III. Sources insisted that Charles ordered his sons to publicly reconcile and that Charles was the one orchestrating the walkabout. Well, the new Prince of Wales couldn’t have that. So William ran straight to Richard Kay to clarify that he texted Harry and that this was all the William Show, but that William is still hurt and wary. Some highlights from Kay’s piece:
Ouch: Certainly [the walkabout’s] importance to the long-term vitality of the monarchy cannot be underestimated. The pictures of the new Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex succeeded in upstaging the proclamation of King Charles as the new monarch, a reminder, should he need it, of the star quality of his sons and their wives.
William’s initiative: The initiative was Prince William’s but it required Harry to agree. And that in itself is certainly something of a breakthrough. Both are stubborn and both have blamed the other for the estrangement.
The two dinners in Scotland: The upshot was that instead Harry travelled alone on his own privately chartered plane and did not arrive at Balmoral until several hours after his grandmother’s death. But then instead of joining his father and brother who were ensconced at Charles’s home Birkhall, he remained at Balmoral Castle where the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex had joined their sister Princess Anne. ‘Two dinners were being hosted on the royal estate that night and there was a clear divide: One was for the new king and his heir, the other was for the rest of the family,’ said an insider.
The text: Meanwhile, there was anticipation that William and Kate would perform a similar function in Windsor. It is understood that at some stage that day William, who had already raised the idea with his brother that they might view the flowers together, texted Harry with a proposed time – a text which Harry acknowledged. According to a source: ‘It happened very quickly – remarkable really considering they didn’t see each other in Scotland.’
Charles didn’t order it: The gesture was certainly decisive. One thing we have learned is that it was not done on the direction of their father as was being widely reported over the weekend. A royal source said such suggestions were ‘absolutely not the case’. Nor is it true that William acted only after learning Harry was set on his own walkabout among the crowds complete with an attendant TV crew. ‘Complete b******s,’ said a source.
Distrust: In the intervening months things have not improved and looming over the relationship and whether it can be salvaged is Harry’s forthcoming memoir. ‘William loves his brother but there is this matter of trust,’ says one figure. What then are the chances of a reconciliation? Slight, but not impossible, according to one informed figure. ‘The problem is,’ says the source, ‘that they have barely spoken for two years and there is both anger and grief about it all on both sides.’…For William the issue of trust is truly at the heart of the breakdown in relations with his brother. His fear is that a book which discusses any intimate family secrets will be a deal-breaker in reconciling.
They’re trying to manipulate Harry with various promises: And what about their other deals, so important to fund the Sussexes’ California lifestyle and meet their security bill? If there is no breakthrough between the brothers, then Harry and Meghan will return to the US and continue their lives and all that entails….Some now say it is possible that with the headwind and good will of a new reign and the benevolence of his father, the international roles first mooted for Harry and Meghan could be offered again. All the same it is hard to see how Meghan, who has voiced so much criticism of royal life, could agree to any kind of arrangement that would diminish her ability to speak as she chooses. And that, ultimately, may make any peace offering worthless.
[From The Daily Mail]
Well, at least Kay denied the conspiracy pushed by the deranged Keen fans that Harry and Meghan were planning their own separate walkabout before William intervened. It’s also clear that the new king and new Prince of Wales are united in one thing: doing the most to manipulate Harry into abandoning his wife and children. There are references to that in Kay’s column and in other British media pieces, that all of this could be “sorted out” to the benefit of the Firm if only Harry would just leave his wife in America and “come back” and do whatever William and Charles order him to do.
The reference to “international roles” is curious too – back in 2019, William was briefing the Times and other outlets that he was in discussions with aides about where to send the popular Sussexes so that they would get out of his way. William didn’t want them to go to Australia or Canada because they would get too much media attention there, so William and his advisors had settled on “sending them to Africa.” Now that the Sussexes have a life, a home, a mortgage, businesses and jobs in America, does anyone in Salt Island honestly believe that Harry and Meghan will suddenly want or need to be King Charles’s representative to Kenya or whatever? Jesus.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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