Throughout the days immediately after the Queen’s death, amid all the grief and nostalgia, there was one spectacle that warmed the hearts of many.Could it be true? Had Harry and William finally reconciled?
Rushing to our television sets, we watched as the two princes and their wives emerged from together to greet the crowds and look at their floral tributes.
It had been ‘s idea, we later learned, to put on a show of unity — a gesture that would surely have touched his deeply Christian grandmother.And for a few minutes, it looked as though the warring couples had slipped back in time, before bitterness and harsh words had destroyed their relationship.
Sadly, it was all an illusion — as sources close to the have confirmed to me.Catherine later admitted to a senior royal that, such was the ill feeling between the two couples, the joint walkabout was one of the hardest things she had ever had to do.
Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on the long Walk at Windsor Castle to greet well-wishers
The Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex visit floral tributes and meet members of the public at Windsor Castle
Bear in mind this was before Prince Harry published Spare, the autobiography that not only revealed family secrets but laid bare his resentment of his brother.It was before the cloying Netflix documentary series he did with Meghan, and the succession of TV interviews in which he criticised the royal institution.
If Catherine found it almost unbearable before all this to share a walkabout with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, then how — one has to wonder — do she and William feel about them now?
In truth, by the time his grandmother died, Harry had precious few supporters left in the family.Even the Queen, who had always had great affection for him, eventually tired of his outbursts.
First, she had wearied of the volatile exchanges between Harry and his brother, puma sneakers ebay (Www.amazon.com) which sometimes took place in her presence. Then Harry and Meghan had started publicly criticising both the monarchy and members of the Royal Family.
At that point, the Queen was frankly mystified by the couple’s behaviour, describing it as ‘quite mad’.She came to believe, however, that her grandson was ‘so consumed’ by his love for his wife that it was ‘clouding his judgment’.
And she felt let down: not only was Her Majesty disappointed in Harry’s decision to abandon his royal duty, but she also saw the departure of the Sussexes as a missed opportunity.Despite that, the Queen sincerely hoped that her grandson would find peace and happiness living the life he had chosen.
Harry, for his part, phoned her regularly from California. But it troubled the Queen when he kept trying to air his grievances.In the end, she asked him to speak directly to his father instead. A source said: ‘Her Majesty found Prince Harry’s calls quite difficult and wearisome. She didn’t want to interfere in the father/son relationship and would urge him to speak to his father.’
Kate found her Windsor walkabout with Harry and Meghan after the Queen’s death ‘one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do’, a sensational new royal book reveals today
Not only was Her Majesty disappointed in Harry’s decision to abandon his royal duty, but she also saw the departure of the Sussexes as a missed opportunity.Pictured: Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle on April 28, 2022
That didn’t work out either. Prince Charles simply stopped taking Harry’s calls after his son swore at him and repeatedly asked for funds.
When the Queen asked Charles why he hadn’t given in, he told her that he wasn’t a bank.
News of Harry’s relationship with an American actress had broken on October 31, 2016.Meghan Markle didn’t seem perturbed: on the same day, she posted a picture on Instagram of two spooning bananas. But her mood seemed quickly to change.
Photos of the prince’s stunning new girlfriend were suddenly at a premium, and she was inevitably being targeted by the paparazzi.
‘Terrified’ for her safety, Harry later admitted he feared history would repeat itself and Meghan would suffer the same relentless hounding his mother endured, which he believed had led to her death.
On November 8, he released a formal statement in which he called on the Press and online trolls to stop what he called the ‘wave of abuse and harassment’ directed at his girlfriend, claiming he had been involved in ‘nightly legal battles’ to stop the media from publishing defamatory stories about Meghan and their relationship.Unfortunately, he had consulted neither Charles nor William before letting loose this incendiary broadside.
His father was given only 20 minutes’ notice before Harry released a formal statement in which he called on the Press and online trolls to stop ‘abuse’ directed at Meghan. Pictured: Meghan, a then Prince Charles, and Harry on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on June 9, 2018
His father was given only 20 minutes’ notice before it was released.On that day, Prince Charles had just arrived in Bahrain on a Foreign Office-sponsored visit to the Gulf states. As any member of the Royal Family could have predicted, Press attention immediately switched from the tour to his besotted son and the new girlfriend.
Reports at the time suggested Charles was ‘crushed’, but this was far from the truth.Instead, he was disappointed at what he regarded as his son’s bad manners.
‘He would never have done such a thing if the Queen was on tour,’ said one former aide.
‘Understandably, there is a hierarchy and a grid system, but Prince Harry seemed to think when it came to Meghan Markle, she would always take precedence.’
William was also uneasy.Privately, he thought his brother had overreacted. ‘It was all a bit dramatic, a bit OTT,’ one of his former aides later recalled. As for Harry, he took offence when told that the massive attention Meghan was getting was only to be expected. He was also angry at what he considered his family’s lack of support.
As he later explained in the Netflix docu-series he made with Meghan, ‘as far as a lot of the family were concerned, everything that she was being put through, they had been put through as well’
As he later explained in the Netflix docu-series he made with Meghan, ‘as far as a lot of the family were concerned, everything that she was being put through, they had been put through as well.
‘So, it was almost like a rite of passage, and some of the members of the family were like, ‘My wife had to go through that, so why should your girlfriend be treated any differently?Why should you get special treatment? Why should she be protected?’ I said, ‘The difference here is the race element.’ ‘
The ‘race element’ that so exercised Harry’s protective instincts had somehow eluded his royal grandmother.
At their first meeting, the Queen had tea with Meghan without even realising she was mixed race.Used to being briefed in advance whenever she met someone new, the monarch explained later — in conversation with a member of her close circle — that she simply hadn’t been told.
Of course, had she known then that Meghan’s mother was black, the Queen — who had counted Nelson Mandela as one of her dear friends — would not have been in the least concerned.
In fact, she was pleased that Harry had at last found love and warmly welcomed Meghan into the Royal Family.But when Her Majesty suggested she should turn to Sophie, Countess of Wessex, for support and advice, Meghan dismissed the idea, saying: ‘I’ve got Harry.’
Her response surprised the Queen, who had doubtless expected her well-meant suggestion to be taken up with gratitude.Still, that hardly mattered: Meghan, she felt, had the potential to be a great asset to the monarchy.
The Queen was pleased that Harry had at last found love and warmly welcomed Meghan into the Royal Family.Pictured: Meghan and Queen Elizabeth II at a ceremony to open the new Mersey Gateway Bridge on June 14, 2018
The actress’s confident presentation skills, combined with her black heritage, convinced the Queen that she would be a great champion for young women as she worked alongside Harry in his role as a Youth Ambassador with the Commonwealth Youth Programme.
Meghan, for her part, was said to be ‘hugely excited’ about this new venture.She would certainly have known that the Commonwealth was particularly close to the Queen’s heart, and that her endorsement was a great honour.
Sources tell me that Meghan subsequently made a diligent study of the Commonwealth and was seen poring over her notes.
Within months of the Queen’s death, however, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s documentary series for Netflix seemed to suggest that she’d had a radical change of heart.To the astonishment of those who remembered Meghan’s enthusiasm for her new role, the series dismissively branded the Commonwealth as ‘Empire 2.0’.
As we now know, William had urged his brother to be cautious before committing himself to a life with Meghan Markle.Even when Harry said he definitely wanted to marry her, William apparently told him: ‘She’s an American actress after all, Harold, anything might happen.’
William had previously urged his brother to be cautious before committing himself to a life with Meghan Markle
It wasn’t the most tactful comment, but he had his reasons.He knew that — even before meeting Meghan — Harry had been obsessed with the idea of marrying and settling down.
Having always looked out for his younger brother, William was concerned that a whirlwind affair was so quickly leading to marriage.But Harry, whose passion for Meghan had reached fever pitch, was hurt.
There was another unpleasant surprise in store when he announced his intention to marry to his father (who already knew about this from his elder son). First, William, who was present at this meeting, asked: ‘Are you sure, Harold?’
He said he was.Then Charles dropped a bombshell, saying he couldn’t afford to pay for Meghan in the future as well as for Camilla, and for William and Catherine and their young family. This infuriated Harry.
As his wedding day approached, the slights built up in his mind.The first introduction of his bride-to-be to William and Catherine at Kensington Palace had left Meghan with the impression that Catherine was stand-offish.
Later, the Duchess of Cambridge — pregnant at the time — had demanded an apology after Meghan had talked about Catherine’s hormones, suggesting she had ‘baby-brain’.And then there’d been that famous spat involving a bridesmaid’s dress for Princess Charlotte.
Charles dropped a bombshell, saying he couldn’t afford to pay for Meghan in the future as well as for Camilla, and for William and Catherine and their young family
William and Charles noticed that Harry seemed to be permanently on edge.
Members of the bride and groom’s entourage also noted that the prince had become ‘petulant and short-tempered’ — raising his voice on occasion to staff and even swearing. Harry, for his part, was now convinced that William didn’t approve of his choice of bride.
Whether this was the case or not, the once close bond between the siblings was fraying badly.
As simmering resentments threatened to boil over, Prince Charles wondered what he could do. For his part, he had welcomed Meghan, pronouncing himself captivated by her intelligence and vivacious personality.
Camilla, too, had played her part as a sort of ‘super-granny’, dispensing humorous, down-to-earth advice to her.But the actress made it clear that she would make her own decisions. Like any loving father, Charles was distressed when his sons clashed with each other, especially when the ill feeling between them appeared to extend to both Meghan and Catherine. Aware that both Harry and William were stubborn and strong-willed, he feared the conflict between them would be very difficult to manage and might have a detrimental impact on the monarchy itself.
Sometimes the level of belligerence between his sons — and indeed towards himself when they challenged him — shocked Charles.One particular exchange with William had become so heated that it had actually left him shaken.
Although Charles himself has a short fuse, his temper is always short-lived. Averse to confrontation, he decided not to intervene in the clash between William and Harry, trusting that in time it would blow over.
On May 19, 2018, the day of Harry and Meghan’s wedding, the exuberant crowds were blissfully ignorant about the feud