Some people are their own worst enemy and have an obvious Achilles’ heel; the trouble with Harry and Meghan is they keep kicking it, then wonder why they stumble and fall. Friends of Prince Harry have triumphantly declared that the Sussexes are willing to grace King Charles with their presence at Sandringham this summer – but only if UK taxpayers stump up for full police protection.
They stress the Duke of Sussex wants to repair the family rift by spending time with his father this July, and if adequate protection is in place he will bring Meghan, six year-old Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, 4. There is only one problem. Palace officials and some royals reportedly no longer trust Harry, citing “bitter experience” and a string of leaks and media briefings from ‘Team Sussex’.
A friend of the King said: “If Harry truly wishes to see his father, he would do well to encourage his supporters to allow such matters to be discussed privately, since low trust and bitter experience remains one of the principal barriers to progress.”
Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of the King, Queen Camilla, and the Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Catherine.
Imagine you had a sibling who left home and then raked in over £100m from streaming shows and book sales by bad-mouthing you, your partner, your dad and stepmom, went on TV shows claiming one of the family (but who?!) was racist, and claimed to the world he was the ultimate victim.
Now imagine your sibling reveals, through ‘friends’, he is willing to return home with his family in tow, but you must pay for his security in case it all kicks off indoors just like on the Jerry Springer Show.
How would you feel?
Frankly I’d tell him good riddance – you’ve not been missed. Have a pleasant life. We’ve moved on.
Harry is obsessed with his family’s privacy but sadly seems willing to breach his brother’s, his sister-in-law’s, his father’s and his stepmother’s for a fat paycheck.
In his bestselling and money-making book ‘Spare,’ Harry revealed that Camilla “sacrificed me on her personal PR altar,” was “dangerous,” and a “wicked stepmother”.
He then revealed there was a rift between Meghan and Catherine; and claimed William “pointed a finger at Meg” that prompted her to respond: “Keep your finger out of my face!”
Oh, and he snitched on William again by saying his brother once knocked him to the floor, then slammed his dad King Charles as “not cut out for single parenting.”
It is believed to have been nearly four years since Archie and Lilibet saw their grandfather, when they travelled to Britain from their home in California for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations. Meghan last visited in 2022 when the Queen died.
Harry is currently waiting for a decision on the security provisions to which he and his family are entitled in Britain.
They were stripped of round-the-clock taxpayer-funded Metropolitan Police bodyguards when Harry chose to step down as a working royal in 2020 and move to North America.
He is offered armed police bodyguards on a case-by-case basis, which in part depends on whether he is in Britain for family or private and commercial purposes.
Harry’s now paying tax in the USA, and a trip to see his dad is hardly a ‘State Visit’. Why should struggling British taxpayers fund security when Harry takes the family out shopping or to an amusement park?
Harry chose to become ‘a celebrity’, and bigger names than his fly into the UK to perform stadium concerts or film movies – they do not get taxpayer-funded police protection.
They use their exorbitant wealth to pay for their own personal security, often made up of tough hombres who are ex-British special forces and experts in trouble-spotting in large crowds.
If Harry wants to mend some bridges, create harmony with his family again and travel back to the UK in dignity he should start by stopping taking us all for a ride.