MEGHAN AND HARRY. After appearing alongside his brother William and Kate Middleton, will Harry and Meghan reconcile with the royal family? Not so sure…
[Mis à jour le 9 septembre 2022 à 17h04] The image was unexpected and did not escape the photographers: Harry and Meghan, yet at odds with the royal family, leaving Balmoral Castle alongside William and Kate. The two brothers appeared side by side at the end of a family meditation after the death of their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. A scene that had not been seen for two years and the decision of Harry and Meghan to distance themselves from the monarchy. But which appears highly symbolic. From there to consider a reconciliation after the two couples are torn apart (read below)? According to a royal source in Timesit was William who would have taken the initiative to propose a joint outing to his brother and their companions, “think[ant] that it was an important show of unity at an incredibly difficult time for the family.” But this would not have been immediately accepted. The newspaper indicates that 45 minutes of negotiations would have been necessary to agree on this joint exit.
A gesture all the same strong when Harry had not been expected by the members of the royal family, Thursday, September 8, to go as quickly as possible to the bedside of Elizabeth II and that the press release announcing the death of the queen had been published even before his arrival at Balmoral. From there to see the end of family tensions? Only the future will tell. Because this appearance and this common walkabout could quickly be forgotten across the Channel with the upcoming publication of Prince Harry’s Memoirs, which could be explosive.
Their publication was initially scheduled for next November, but will undoubtedly be postponed to 2023. The prospect of the upcoming release of Prince Harry’s memoirs is enough to make the British Crown tremble. According to a source close to the new sovereign quoted by The Sunthe one who became King Charles III following the death of his queen mother, would be “particularly worried” about the potential content of his youngest son’s book, especially since no copy has yet reached him in proofreading.
“Charles has expressed his concerns to William and wants him to know that he will defend Camilla if certain passages in the book attack her. But even if William loves his father, he is unlikely to want get involved. He will probably try to stay neutral,” said an insider close to the royal family quoted by the British tabloid.
In mid-July 2022, a shocking book by Tom Bower “Revenge: Meghan, Harry and the war between the Windsors”, looking back on Meghan and Harry’s break with the royal family in 2020, had already made headlines for several days. Prince Harry’s memoirs are presented in some press titles as “a response” to this book judged to be against his couple.
Meghan and Harry on European and UK tour
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had been in Europe since the beginning of the week to participate in a series of charity events when the alert on the health of the queen, then her death was announced on September 8, shaking up their agenda . Without Meghan Markle, who remained in London, Prince Harry then rushed to Balmoral Castle where the queen had been resting for several months. Like his big brother, who also came without his wife (Kate Middleton stayed with her three children who were back to school that day), Prince Harry could not have arrived in time to see his grand- mother before her last breath. His last physical encounter with the queen dates back to June, during the celebrations of the Platinum Jubilee marking the 70 years of reign of Elizabeth II.
No meeting with the royal family was initially on the couple’s program during their stay on the continent and in the United Kingdom, which several British titles did not fail to recall. Not even with the queen, whom the couple allegedly “ignored” according to some newspapers. Meghan and Harry arrived at Frogmore Cottage on September 3, in Windsor, to go a few days later to the One Young World Summit, an annual summit bringing together 190 international leaders in Manchester, in the north of the country, and from which Meghan Markle had left involved. On Tuesday, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle then traveled to Germany, to Düsseldorf this time, for the launch of the Invictus Games 2023, a sports competition for injured war veterans and people with disabilities of which Harry has been the patron since many years.
Thursday, the couple was still in Germany when the alert on the health of the Queen of England was given. He was to return to London, according to the official program, for the WellChild Awards ceremony, an organization providing care to children with serious illnesses. Sean Coughlan, correspondent following the royal family for the BBChad indicated in the afternoon that “the Sussexes” should “give up” this charity event.
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In January 2020, less than two years after a lavish wedding, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle caused an earthquake by expressing their desire to put an end to their duties with regard to the royal family and their intention to step back from this one. Months of unpacking and scandals around Meghan Markle, her alleged behavior and her family, will have got the better of their relationship with the Windsors. Meghan and Harry also announced that they wanted to obtain their financial independence and live between North America and England.
The case will obviously make a lot of noise, the English tabloid press very quickly evoking a “Megxit”, in reference to Brexit which was still upsetting the country. The couple will retain the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex, but renounce the predicate of royal highnesses. They will also lose their right to police protection and will then have to reimburse the taxpayer for the £2.4million spent on refurbishing Frogmore Cottage, the mansion they were intended to reside in.
From March 2020, Harry and Meghan settled with their son Archie in Beverly Hills and then in Montecito, California. Financially independent of the British crown, they have since embarked on a series of media activities in order to finance their lifestyle and the devices necessary for their security. The couple notably signed a multi-year contract, estimated at 100 million dollars, in order to produce series, documentaries and programs for children. They now live with their two children, Archie and Lilibeth, in the Santa Barbara neighborhood, northwest of Los Angeles..
Despite the tensions in the royal family, exacerbated by the scandalous press, Prince Harry like Meghan Markle have always tried to spare Queen Elizabeth II. At least on the front. Meghan Markle has repeatedly wanted to express her sympathy for the now deceased queen. In an interview given to Oprah Winfrey on the CBS channel in March 2021 and remained in the annals, she had sent a message to the sovereign, to make her understand that she had nothing to reproach her for: “There is the family , and then there are the people who run the institution, they are two separate things and it is important to be able to compartmentalize them because the queen, for example, has always been extraordinary with me,” she said. Nor did Harry have the slightest reproach for his grandmother during those years of latent conflict. “I have deep respect for her. She is my Colonel-in-Chief. She will remain so,” he said.
The week before the death of Elizabeth II, the tabloids nevertheless made a big deal of the stay of Meghan and Harry in the United Kingdom, stressing that no visit with other members of the royal family was in the program. One of those tabloids, The Express, assured Wednesday that the couple had even gone so far as to “snub” Elizabeth II, refusing to visit her after ignoring an invitation from Prince Charles. Katie Nicholl, royal columnist at Vanity Fair, for her part assured television that the queen had invited the couple twice, without response.