Inside Prince Harry’s week from hell – and King’s ability to ‘forgive’ | Royal | News

It’s a week that neither the Duke of Sussex nor the Royal Family will forget in a hurry. Another Harry visit flew by like a whirlwind, characterized by chaos, conflicting statements from Team Sussex and the Palace, a spectacular defeat at the High Court and a desperate attempt at compromise.

Weeks of claims and counterclaims have characterized Harry’s return, which culminated on Monday morning, just hours before he touched down on home soil. Last week, Harry announced he and his family would be coming on the trip, but later rowed back and said it would not be safe for Meghan and the children to visit London.

Then on Monday, private negotiations about staying at Buckingham Palace played out publicly; There was complete confusion as to what was happening.

Harry contacted the Royal Family directly about the offer of accommodation, and although he insists he accepted the King’s offer to stay at the London residence, Palace sources say he missed the deadline after initially rejecting the offer.

It is understood a High Court ruling in a privacy claim against the Daily Mail publisher also played a role, as the Palace wanted to keep the King away from the case.

The Duke was furious at this fiasco and believed it was planned to embarrass him. This has led sources close to Harry to question whether the offer is genuine or part of a Palace PR spin, to which he devotes many pages in his memoirs.

Instead he stayed in private accommodation.

The ‘he said, she said’ narrative characteristic of soap operas and school playgrounds sets the tone for the five-day visit: frayed tempers, rising emotions and the unfolding of a private family dispute for all to see for what seems like the umpteenth time.

Sources tell me that the latest edition of the Sussex show has caused exasperation behind closed doors and renewed distrust of anything Harry, his wife or his team say.

Although there was a sense of satisfaction (if not smugness) after his huge loss in the courts on Tuesday, as the courts had always been vehemently opposed to the duke’s public crusade against the press and his desperate need for revenge.

Even the King, who left the door open to make peace with his youngest son and wanted to meet his youngest grandchildren, was “tired” of all this charade.

As is the case every time Harry returns to the city, the royal diary is filled to the brim. Since Tuesday the King, Queen and Prince of Wales have held 13 meetings in what has become a public example of ‘keep calm and carry on’ in the face of the Sussex spectacle.

The King had six public events and more than a dozen spectators, including a Privy Council meeting and his investiture ceremony. The Queen was equally busy; He was attending engagements in Sussex and enjoying an afternoon at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales has also held five public events, culminating with the annual Charity Polo match in Windsor on Friday.

Hours after Harry played pickleball, laser track and wheelchair rugby, he was joined by his wife, who was cheering on the future king from the sidelines.

The sporting encounter, which was entirely coincidental as the annual charity polo match usually takes place on the Friday before the Wimbledon finals and the Invictus event has long been planned, served as a stark reminder of the rift between the two brothers. There has been no contact for years and there is no hint of a change in relations any time soon.

But despite the drama that has become synonymous with Harry’s return to the city, at the heart of the chaos remains a 77-year-old father and grandfather who want the family’s discord to end.

A deeply religious man, he values ​​the values ​​of forgiveness, and although he knows he can’t do anything to convince his eldest son that Harry deserves another chance, he’s willing to let him in, but only in limited doses and with the firm assurance that there won’t be any leaks, photos or videos to exploit.

Palace sources are quick to convey this; One insider notes that Romans 12:18 is a verse he returns to often. “If possible, live in peace with everyone as long as it depends on you.”

Another sentiment shared repeatedly in recent years when the Palace was quizzed about royal reconciliation was: “The King is a forgiving man and keeps the door ajar despite resistance from other family members.”

While many in the family have not recovered from the grenades the duke has thrown in the six years since he left the royal staff, Charles still wants a relationship with his son and grandchildren, whom he had not seen for more than four years until Friday afternoon.

Ahead of their reunion meeting at Highgrove yesterday, the youngsters were last seen together in June 2022, when the family of four met Queen Elizabeth II. He saw it when he traveled to England for Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee. This was the first time Charles met his youngest granddaughter, Princess Lilibet (controversially named after her late mother), who was born in California.

His desire to spend time with the siblings in person gave Harry hope that he could be reunited with his father if he could keep Meghan and their children safe while they were here.

The duke has previously told the BBC that he “can’t see a world” in which he would bring his family back to the UK without the police protection he is trying to re-establish. He made the comments after losing a protracted court battle to restore his taxpayer-funded security in Britain and following the decision by royal staff to quit their senior staff and move to the UK in 2020.

Harry had hoped he would receive armed police protection during his landmark visit this week, but when that wasn’t the case, he became enraged, forcing him to cancel Meghan and their children’s long-planned trip to the United Kingdom.

But on Thursday night, increased security appeared to be in place as concerns for the safety of the duchess and her children eased. As a result, they would go to Britain to be with Harry.

However, despite briefings to the contrary, it was made clear that the duchess would not attend any public meetings with her husband.

He was expected to join Harry for the Invictus event at the National Exhibition Center (NEC) on Friday, but this was ruled out.

Then last night Buckingham Palace confirmed that the King and Queen had hosted the family of four at Highgrove House that afternoon.

As Harry continues his campaign for rapprochement, this week he made clear that whatever integrity he had left had vanished.

He has battled the press for years, voicing his complaints about the Palace’s ease in leaking negative stories about him and his wife to the media.

In an interview promoting his memoir, Harry told Anderson Cooper that journalists had been “spoon-fed” leaks from the palace about him.

“Every time I try to do this privately there are briefings, leaks and stories made up against me and my wife,” he said. “You know the family’s motto is ‘never complain, never explain’ but that’s just a motto.”

He added: “They’ll feed the reporter or have a conversation with him. And that reporter will literally be spoon-fed information and write the story.”

But in another twist to the Duke’s eventful week, the Mail on Sunday’s managing editor Charlotte Griffiths penned a devastating takedown, accusing Harry’s team of orchestrating positive coverage.

The no-holds-barred piece, written after Harry dragged her into the privacy case, reveals Harry’s team leaked details of a private meeting PR chiefs had with the Palace’s communications director last summer – before the same team briefed a separate publication that pointed blame at the Royal Family.

He said he had been told when and where the meeting between Sussex PR chiefs Liam Maguire and Meredith Maines and the King’s communications secretary Tobyn Andreae would take place.

As a result, they sent a snapper to record the meeting, which was held at the Royal Overseas League near Clarence House.

The journalist said sources close to Sussex later told the Daily Telegraph they were “very disappointed” that the photos had emerged, implying that the Palace was responsible for the leak.

Ms Griffiths’ allegations come after Harry claimed the Mail’s publisher had published stories about him based on illegally obtained information.

This extraordinary detail leaves big questions for the Sussex PR team and will make it even harder for anyone to trust the information coming from Montecito.

This also served to reinforce the Prince of Wales’s view that he should not waste time with his brother, that he has more important things to focus on and does not want to return to the anger and betrayal he felt after a series of damning attacks on Harry’s Royal Family.