Last weekend, when a black Audi pulled up at the top of Windsor Castle’s Long Walk, a scene unfolded that was previously completely and utterly unthinkable: William and Kate, Prince
and the Princess of Wales (I’m still not used to writing this) and Harry and Meghan, the Duke
and the Duchess of Sussex.
together In public Walking side by side
It was an extraordinary and unexpected moment, and even before the car doors were fully closed, there seemed to be a lot of breathless speculation about reconciliation and healing and olive branches and a bag of other clichés. .
However, a week later and the real picture is starting to become clearer. If there are any optimistic souls out there, eternally hopeful that the brothers’ arctic chill had begun to melt by the time they gathered to honor their grandmother, then please click away from this story right now.
The reality, according to reports from London over the past 24 hours, would suggest that any kind of happily ever after scenario is off the table.
Take that walk last weekend, which came after the Prince of Wales extended an eleventh-hour invitation for the Sussexes to come too. The image was powerful, of two brothers coming together during a moment of grief, but don’t mistake it for any kind of larger change.
“Joint appearances require effort,” said a friend of the brothers time‘royal publisher Roya Nikkhah.
“There was an understanding that ‘we have to show solidarity’, not just ‘we have to do this because it’s our duty’. But I don’t think it goes much further than that. There have been some awkward moments this week. I definitely don’t feel like ‘a deeper meaningful closeness or a feeling that this is it, that things will work out.’
Meanwhile, a source close to Harry said time that although “everyone is doing their best”, being together has been “uncomfortable” and “difficult” for the king’s children.
Not a big surprise, right?
This is unlikely to be helped by the energy that seems to have been put on the site where the Wales/Sussex walk was entirely William’s doing in what looked like a concerted effort to score a PR win as to older man and peacemaker of the family.
Supposedly time heals all wounds, but no one has said that to the various branches of the House of Windsor.
It was only 18 months ago that Harry and Meghan were busy detonating their explosive claims of racism and cruelty at the Palace, while slack-jawed TV titan Oprah Winfrey contributed the occasional incredulous “waaaa…” .
Us too Oprah, us too.
Harry and Meghan have doubled, tripled and quadrupled their anti-corporate efforts in numerous interviews since then, with the Duchess just weeks ago explaining it. the cut, “just by existing, we were altering the dynamics of the hierarchy”. (That line hasn’t aged well, has it?)
For its part, Buckingham Palace has maintained its rigid no-comment stance and has failed to meaningfully address the couple’s blistering claims.
With all these accusations ringing in the royal family’s ears, is it any wonder the hugs don’t sound like they’re being handed out between hot mugs of hot chocolate?
A source close to the Welsh has said telegraph: “They feel that Oprah crossed a line and that someone should acknowledge the reasons behind it and the pain that it caused. They feel that they had to be steely to send a message that you can’t say such hurtful things without have consequences”.
Although the two couples have seen each other more in the last ten days than in years, and are united in wanting to put on a good show to keep the focus on their beloved “grandma”, all this closeness is not, of course. , translated into deep and meaningful conversations.
“It’s very hard to spend time with someone, or even talk openly, when you know they’re writing a book about you and giving interviews. The trust is gone right now,” said one insider telegraph
And that’s where we get to the heart of the matter, not just what Harry and Meghan have said, but what they might still say, especially as commercial pressures may start to pile up.
Insert some ominous music here.
There is “intense” concern within the royal family, according to the Daily Beast’s Tom Sykes on exactly what Harry could be preparing to reveal about King Charles just as his reign begins, and that while the duchess’ bricks are easily dealt with, an attack from the duke would be much more dangerous.
A friend of the two brothers said so time: “We know there are other things coming out in the future that will be very damaging.”
According to Nikkhah, “the fear in royal circles is that his interview with Winfrey could turn out to be the appetizer for a meatier main course of more revelations in Harry’s book,” but a Sussex source told him that the autobiography “will not be as denigrating” as we might expect.
But even a less “vilifying” tell-all remains the sword of Damocles hanging over this already surely emotional period for all involved.
William and Harry’s chaotic, separate journeys to Scotland to try and see their grandmother before she died, and Harry’s lonely, lonely figure returning to London the next day, didn’t speak as much as shouted volumes as the departures are with his family.
While the Sussexes have seen their popularity tank in the UK since kicking off Megxit’s IED, it’s worth noting that they’ve very clearly been on their best behavior. Harry’s memoir has been delayed until next year and Meghan is on the cover of industry bible variety has been archived, along with the aa appearances variety event and al Tonight’s show with Jimmy Fallon.
Consider also the banter about whether or not he would be allowed to wear a uniform when the Duke stood vigil alongside his cousins around Her Majesty’s coffin. According to the telegraphthe couple “chose not to make a fuss” of the initial decision to not give him permission, only for cooler heads within the Palace to prevail and Charles to step in to allow Harry to don his Blues and Royals .
(However, Harry was “devastated” to discover, when he received his uniform from Buckingham Palace that afternoon, that his grandmother’s initials ‘ER’ had been stripped from the shoulder,” time reported).
At the end of the day, where are things? The same, the general consensus seems to be the same.
“Nothing has really changed. The expectation is that once the mourning period is over, Harry and Meghan will return to California, he will publish his book and the family here will be left to pick up the pieces,” explained a friend of the brothers’ family. beast
However, there is a green shoot among all this. Thursday was Harry’s birthday, the second time in his life his day had been overshadowed by grief and loss. (He turned 13 less than two weeks after the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales.) The time revealed that William was heading home to Adelaide Cottage after making the afternoon pick-up when his car met the Sussexes on the road and “the brothers drove in front of each other but then stopped , they backed up, rolled down the windows and chatted for a while.”.
And there you have it: a “talk”.
It’s not much, but hey, it’s something. I bet His Majesty would have been pleased.
Daniela Elser is a writer and royal expert with more than 15 years of working experience a number of Australia’s leading media titles.