Just hours after Meghan’s latest Instagram salvo dropped yesterday morning, one royal insider lost no time in letting their feelings be known.
‘Well that’s a rather giant f*** you, isn’t it?’ they remarked to me.
Featuring an idyllic image of Prince Harry walking through the gardens of their Montecito home, daughter Lilibet on his shoulders and son Archie’s hand in his, its timing was far from accidental.
That’s the one thing the Duchess of Sussex does have in common with the Royal Family: knowing the power of a well-timed image.
And what it tells us, amid the continuing shockwaves of Harry’s media tsunami on Friday, is clear. Sod the lot of you. He doesn’t need the UK anyway.
Except that if her husband is to be believed, he does.
Forty eight hours after the fifth in line to the throne (who, let us not forget, is still a Counsellor of State who could step in for his father in he were to become incapacitated) the dust of that incendiary interview is yet to settle – although today’s celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day will hopefully provide a natural firebreak.
In royal circles there is a strong sense of disappointment, incredulity and yes, anger.
Meghan posted an image of Prince Harry walking through the gardens of his Montecito home on Instagram just days after his incendiary interview
The Duchess of Sussex knows the power of a well-timed photo
Harry said he wants ‘reconciliation’ with King Charles but angered many with his comments
While many had hoped the conclusion of the prince’s long-running legal battle against the Home Office over what level of security he is entitled to in the UK would finally provide enough closure to raise the faint spectre of reconciliation, Harry’s subsequent BBC broadside has had the opposite effect.
By lashing out at his father (again), throwing snide barbs in his brother’s direction (also again) and generally accusing the royal family and Buckingham Palace of being in cahoots with a largely Tory Establishment plot to ‘harm’ him (oh, that’s a new one!) the prince has blown the whole seething, toxic mess wide open again.
And in doing so he has reinforced in the eyes of the Royal Household (not unreasonably, some might think) why the chances of reconciliation are so very slim.
To some who worked alongside Harry for many years it is not entirely a surprise. ‘He would often say, when told of a decision he disagreed with, “they will have blood on their hands”,’ one source tells me. ‘He always wanted to know exactly who had made [a decision] and why, as if he intended to enter their name into his little black book of grievances.’
Others – and this is particularly interesting – say they are amazed that he even took on this particular legal fight in the first place.
I am told that by the time of the ‘Sandringham Summit’ in January 2020, Harry had already privately acknowledged that he would lose his taxpayer-funded Metropolitan Police bodyguards.
By that point he was, apparently, already negotiating with his family about who would pay for a new team of private – largely ex-Met Police – security guards (answer: Prince Charles for at least a year, while his son and daughter-in-law found their feet financially).
‘Then suddenly he turns and cries wolf with Ravec [Royal and VIP Executive Committee],’ says one with knowledge of proceedings.
Make no mistake, say those in the know, this has always been a significant issue for Harry.
And it’s actually entirely understandable given the truly awful circumstances of his late mother’s death, after she turned down the offer of round-the-clock police protection in an effort to live a more private life.
But his apparent attempts to claim the row over his security is the sole cause of his catastrophic fall-out with his family, has infuriated many. ‘Oprah, Spare [his memoir], all those podcasts and interviews in which he took potshots at his family and repeated their private conversations again and again… is he really saying that has nothing to do with it? Oh please!’ says another source.
‘He is utterly obsessed with the idea of airing “his truth”. Harry lives his life permanently under a victim narrative and never takes responsibility for his own actions.’
So where does his wife Meghan come into all of this? She has been something of a silent partner, preferring to focus on her upcoming business ventures, until today.
One source described her role in this all to me as ‘unhelpful’, an ‘enabler’. ‘For her the loss of status is a much more significant issue,’ another remarks, ‘probably because it is so very much tied up in her money-making schemes.’
But the most important issue, for now, is whether Harry’s latest attack has fatally damaged any hope for bridges to be rebuilt.
And the answer, at the moment, is yes. My understanding is that the King, while unlikely to have watched his son’s interview in full, knows enough about its contents to have been left deeply upset at his son’s ‘wilful’ misunderstanding of his role in Ravec’s decision-making process and his comments about how long he has to live.
A source says: ‘Harry says he wants to reconcile while still betraying the confidences of the family. Is it any wonder the King doesn’t speak to his son?
‘It’s not that he doesn’t want to. He just can’t.’
