The idea that his little brother is going to swan back in to steal William’s thunder must be enraging: SARAH VINE
You’ve got to hand it to the Sussexes: they know how to make a splash. The bombshell news that Prince Harry and his family are swapping the California hills for rainy Britain quite knocked me off my perch.
Especially since in May last year Harry told the BBC in no uncertain terms that he couldn’t ‘see a world in which I would bring my wife and children back to the UK’.
As U-turns go, it’s quite a screecher. But then who can believe anything this man – or, for that matter, his wife – says?
Where to begin? The ‘secret’ wedding that never was, supposedly conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury himself in their back garden? Or Harry insisting that they had never accused the Royal Family of racism, even though they are literally captured on camera telling Oprah about it – or about what some might call ‘unconscious bias’.
Or Meghan saying, also in the Oprah interview, that the royals were planning not to give young Archie the title of prince, even though nothing of the sort had happened. At the time he was the great-grandchild of the sovereign, and therefore not due to assume the title until after Elizabeth II’s death. It was protocol, not personal.
And let’s not forget Harry claiming in his memoir, Spare, that he was at Eton when he received a phone call from a courtier informing him of the Queen Mother’s death – when in reality he was skiing in Klosters with his father.
Just a few examples. So I suppose that, really, none of us should be too surprised that he has now changed his mind.
It’s official: Britain is no longer a prison from which Harry and his family felt compelled to escape – with maximum drama and fanfare – for the sake of their sanity. It is now the place they once again plan to call home.
It’s no secret that there is no love lost between Harry and his brother William, or their respective wives, Catherine and Meghan (pictured together in 2022 at Elizabeth II’s funeral)
As the tectonic plates of the monarchy shift and a new royal topography emerges, Harry risks being left high and dry, writes Sarah Vine
No matter that they’ve shredded the Royal Family’s reputation; no matter that they’ve characterised the British Press and public as ‘toxic’. They’re coming home, whether we like it or not. And woe betide anyone who complains.
Or dares to question their motives. Ostensibly, they are doing this so the children can benefit from a British education and get to know their extended family. But we all know there is more, much more to it than that.
It’s not just that all those lucrative contracts have melted away, leaving little but jam and flower sprinkles in their wake. It’s also that the couple’s status as royals – so important since without it he is really just a balding middle-aged man with very little experience of real work or life and she is just a retired soap actress – is a fast-depreciating asset.
They need to re-establish their royal credentials, and how better to do it than to plug straight back into the source: Britain, and the great British public. In the US they were small fish in a big pond; here, they will be big fish with plenty of opportunities to ingratiate themselves. Mark my words, there will be a charm offensive. Who knows, we might even get to see the children’s faces.
When the Sussexes left, they were arguably the Royal Family’s most popular asset. A lot of people thought their departure would damage the institution in the eyes of the public.
But the opposite happened. As one by one the embittered pair lobbed their truth bombs across the Atlantic, people began to sympathise with the beleaguered royals back home. Many felt that, while Harry had some grounds for complaint, he went too far in pursuing satisfaction.
Everything now depends on King Charles’s response. He is in an impossible (and heartbreaking) position, says our columnist
They badly miscalculated – and instead of being diminished by their absence, the remaining royals have actually flourished. The whole saga seems to have brought them closer together, created a more tight-knit unit. They’ve faced the Andrew crisis together; they’ve weathered ill health together.
There has been a real sense of a family united, and it has served them well. Harry and Meghan, meanwhile, have seemed increasingly embittered.
But the sad truth remains: King Charles is not a well man. That older generation of royals is fading and new faces are emerging. And as the tectonic plates of the monarchy shift and a new royal topography emerges, Harry risks being left high and dry. Had he and the duchess made a roaring success of their American escapade, this might not matter. But they did not. They’ve run out of road, and they need to turn back.
We all hope and pray that the King will lead a long life like his parents but, sadly, that may not come to pass. If, when that moment is upon us, Harry and his family were still in self-imposed exile across the pond, they might have found the way back into the royal fold was barred for good, or at the very least made much harder.
It’s no secret that there is no love lost between Harry and his brother William, future king, or their respective wives. Theirs is a deep, complex rift that has developed over the course of the past decade, starting when Prince William first sounded a note of caution about his brother’s romance with the then Ms Markle.
The pair even came to blows when, later on, bullying allegations arose against the duchess (which she vehemently denies), and William confronted his brother.
According to Harry’s own account, the Prince of Wales called the duchess ‘difficult’, ‘rude’ and ‘abrasive’,
which he (Harry) took to be a ‘parrot[ing of] the press narrative’. He then writes that William ‘grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and . . . knocked me to the floor’.
That was just the start of it. Bit by bit, the brothers have drifted in opposite directions to the point where Prince William is now reportedly ‘apoplectic’ about this latest turn of events, with insiders claiming the Waleses were completely ‘blindsided’ by the announcement.
In other words, if Harry wants to get his snout back into the royal trough, he has to do it while his father is on the throne. Otherwise, there is no guarantee.
From William’s point of view, this is an obvious land grab, made all the more frustrating since the Prince and Princess of Wales have always behaved impeccably in fulfilling their royal duties, whereas Harry and Meghan have not. The idea that his little brother is just going to swan back in and steal his thunder – which, given the nature of the personalities involved, is inevitable – must be enraging. It really is Cain and Abel.
What’s worse, there is every chance that, with the help of old allies and Harry’s uncle, Charles Spencer, the duke and duchess will swiftly establish some sort of rival court in the Cotswolds, where they reportedly plan to settle.
With the children at school, they will find new charities and causes to occupy their time and it won’t take long before a pseudo-royal ecosystem begins to form around them – one unencumbered by protocol and precedence.
Everything now depends on King Charles’s response. He is in an impossible (and heartbreaking) position, as any parent who has ever had to arbitrate between warring siblings will understand. Plus, of course, he is still receiving treatment for cancer. I can’t even begin to imagine how exhausted he must be by it all.
Once again, Harry proves that nothing and no one will stand in his way.
