The Duchess of Sussex was making the most of her time away from Montecito on Thursday. Not only was she spotted at Cipriano’s in Beverly Hills for lunch with Clare Waight Keller, she went out to dinner with friends at Asanebo in Studio City. She wore a grey sweater and jeans, and carried a Goyard Saint Louis Bag – you can see the photos here. I’m so glad she’s outside! I wonder if she was in LA yesterday on business. Hm.
Speaking of, the salt asylum over there is still trying to make “the Sussexes want to come back but we won’t let them” into a thing. It’s a Salt Island exclusive, and it’s just a little delusion which makes them feel better about themselves. In any case, Dick Fitzwilliams has so many thoughts about how Harry would be allowed to visit his father but Meghan will never be allowed to “work” for the Firm ever again, because she’s Black.
Meghan Markle has appeared in London via video link to open a new wing of an animal charity – but a royal expert believes the chances of the Duchess (and Duke) of Sussex returning to the UK on a more frequent basis remain slim. The Duchess made a virtual appearance at the Mayhew vet clinic in north-west London on Wednesday to open the Oli Juste ward, named after ‘dear friend’ and dog behaviourist Mr Juste, who died suddenly in January 2022.
But royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams has told MailOnline that, despite reports, the Sussexes are unlikely to resume any senior duties with the family following years of public fighting – and that any visits to the UK will likely involve Harry and Harry alone.
Mr Fitzwilliams said: ‘Harry’s visit wasn’t insincere in terms of wanting to see his family, but it’s absolutely out of the question they could resume royal duties while members of the royal family don’t trust them because of the way they have behaved. They appear to be behind the idea that there might be some form of activity Harry might be interested in picking up during this very difficult time for the royal family while the King is ill and Catherine is still recuperating.’
‘Just hypothetically, assume the situation was such that the royal family felt they could do with a bit of help if Harry, by one reason or another, did undertake duties: it would become a strange circus because the world’s media would be covering it. Harry will come back, I’m sure, to see his father. That’s different. Whether he comes with Meghan, it might be best not to.’
Mr Fitzwilliams added that while a return to royal work ‘might appeal’ to the Sussexes, the rift created through what he called the ‘big three’ – the controversial 2021 Oprah interview, their Netflix series and Harry’s memoir, Spare – made it an unlikely possibility.
‘It may well be they were putting out feelers that he would step in given the circumstances. But consider how weird it would be,’ he said. ‘The whole point is there was a total breakdown of trust between the royal family and Harry and Meghan – certainly between William and Harry. There is no way he could be trusted. The royals have to operate with dignity and the Sussexes, in my view, do not have much dignity. It’s just not a goer. Harry may have been angling towards offering to help but while it may sound helpful on one level it would reduce things to a farce. What would be the public reaction? The monarchy has to have cache. The Kardashians, and I am not comparing them directly, do not have cache. There has to be an amount of that for the family to be taken seriously. There wouldn’t be if Harry and Meghan returned. It’s a non-starter.’
‘What of Charles seeing his grandchildren – what about Lily and Archie? We will see in time,’ Mr Fitzwilliams concluded. ‘The situation is very difficult and obviously one thing that is not going to work is anything that reduces the gravitas of the monarchy, the dignity of the monarchy. But Harry is clearly concerned for his father and will be here again – when and in what circumstances, that’s a “watch this space”.’
You heard it here first, people – the dignity of the monarchy is sacrosanct, as it rests on a king who once told his married mistress that he wanted to be her tampon and now that mistress is queen. As much as these people complain about “the Kardashians,” the Windsors would love that kind of attention and that kind of fame. William has been making dumb documentaries too (which no one watches) and the Windsors can’t exist without emptying out their purses on a daily basis to the tabloids. These people are too stupid to understand that they should have been begging the Sussexes to return for years, but you can’t fix stupid so here we are. I’m so glad Harry and Meghan are out of there and just living their lives.
Meghan Markle goes casual for swanky dinner date with friends in LA https://t.co/Q3h52oICSs pic.twitter.com/ApbmvKrStv
— Page Six (@PageSix) February 23, 2024
The Duchess of Sussex has lunch date with friends at Cipriani in Beverly Hills https://t.co/ijwaRCkjVi via @DailyMailCeleb
Wearing @maxmara
— What Meghan Wore (@WhatMeghanWore) February 22, 2024
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.