The King’s efforts to clarify that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex should not be treated as royalty have led to a war of words between the two camps.
It comes amid, what some royal insiders and commentators suggest, is palace concern over the growth of a rival Sussex court with a potential to sow confusion now that Prince Harry and Meghan are back in Britain and planning public charity engagements and commercial activities.
The Sussexes were said to be frustrated they received only an hour’s notice of a letter – sent on behalf of the Palace – on Monday, to senior government officials, the military, and lord lieutenants, stressing that the couple remain private individuals who should not be afforded the same privileges as working members of the Royal Family.
Palace officials, however, are understood to take the view that there was no need to consult them as the document, as far as they are concerned, simply reaffirmed the position that has existed since the Sussexes quit official royal duties in 2020.
They have declined to comment on the suggestion that the letter was prompted by concern over the couple creating a rival court now they have returned to the UK.
Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, are worried that emphasising their status as private individuals could undermine their efforts to obtain armed police protection. The letter was sent as members of Ravec, the committee that advises the Home Office on protective security, prepared to meet this week to discuss their plea to have taxpayer-funded security while in the UK.
‘Weariness inside Buckingham Palace’
The whole episode, met with weariness inside Buckingham Palace, has soured what looked like an attempt at bridge-building by the Sussexes. It has revived memories of the rival press briefings that marked Megxit, and even carries echoes of the War of the Waleses in the 1990s.
A third court in the shape of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s office adds to the complexities. William and Kate were more focused on Prince George’s first day at Eton yesterday, and have so far refused to discuss the Sussexes’ return. They are reportedly reluctant to reconcile or get involved in the drama. While they are not thought to have been directly involved in drafting the letter, they are said to be “in lockstep” with the King who is keen to show his support for them, according to Kensington Palace officials.
A source close to the Sussexes insisted the couple wants to rebuild familial relationships away from the cameras. While there is no prospect of them resuming official engagements, there remains the possibility that they could eventually be invited to public family gatherings such as Christmas at Sandringham, Easter at Windsor Castle, summer at Balmoral – as well as semi-official events such as Royal Ascot.
For the moment at least that is not on the cards. “They may see the family privately but I don’t think there are plans for them to get involved with public events with the institution,” the source noted, adding that they are not expected to join their relatives at Sandringham this Christmas.
“I think they have plans to spend it with family but other family.”
Since leaving royal duties, Prince Harry and Meghan have undertaken several short foreign tours including Australia in April (Photo: Jonathan Brady/AP)It is not clear if that will be in Britain or in the US, where Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland is living in Los Angeles. Seeing Harry’s late mother Princess Diana’s side of the family is also a priority for the couple.
In the next couple of weeks, their focus will be on settling their children into a new school, the location of which has not been confirmed by the couple.
Harry has a series of charity engagements, including the WellChild Awards, later in the month, a charity sky dive, and events connected to next summer’s Invictus Games in Birmingham.
Meghan ‘still in talks over Guy Ritchie role’
From their new UK base, Meghan will work on her As Ever range of lifestyle products. There is talk of her resuming work for UK charities she previously represented and she is also understood to still be in talks over a return to acting with a potential part in Guy Ritchie’s Netflix crime drama The Gentlemen. But the couple’s TV production company, Archewell Productions, and their charitable operation, Archewell Philanthropies will continue to be based in California, where they have kept their £11 million home, along with a holiday home in Portugal, allowing for transatlantic trips and a potential exit.
The prospect of acting work for Meghan was one of several factors that led the couple to plan a return to Britain, as was educating their children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, in the UK.
“Now is a good time for them with Lily, as she says, going to big girls’ school. She’s gone into Year 1,” the source said.
But that does not mean they are here indefinitely. “The reason they are here isn’t down to one factor, similarly there will be a number of factors when – or if – they decide to move on,” the source said, adding that their relationship with the royal family was unlikely “to influence where they want to live”.
Inside the Royal Household officials have suggested that the King wants to hold to the Sandringham agreement of 2020 under which the late Queen – backed by Charles and Prince William – ruled that the Sussexes could not be half in and half out, undertaking royal duties while making money commercially.
Some commentators, however, have suggested he may have to strip the couple of their royal titles to force them not to use them to make the distinction between working and non-working royals clearer.
“It’s all they’ve got but I think Prince Harry ought to be worried about how easily Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had his titles removed,” the royal biographer Hugo Vickers said. “It may have to happen if it gets really bad.”
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