The Daily Mail’s Alison Boshoff has another wild exclusive about Prince Harry and Meghan. Two things are happening simultaneously with this exclusive: one, the Daily Mail is currently going full smear-job on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in the wake of the Mail’s legal victory in the years-long hacking lawsuit; and two, Prince William and his office love to make false attributions. Meaning, William and his team constantly pose as “sources close to Harry” or “Sussex insiders” to push various agendas. All of which to say, I do not believe that Boshoff has any insider information on Harry and Meghan’s thinking, but this reads like a wish-list for what William wants for them. Some absolutely asinine highlights:
The Highgrove Summit: Just as I revealed in these pages three weeks ago, the conditions of the reconciliation were that there were to be no cameras in the room, no briefings and no Instagram posts about jam or anything else. To these strictures, an apparently humbled Harry agreed ‘in a heartbeat’ and he has been as good as his word. As a friend of his says: ‘Harry was never going to let the kids down, they were so invested in the trip. They FaceTime with Charles all the time, so they already have a relationship but they were so excited to finally come. It was their first proper chance to meet.’
The “Reverse Megxit”: But then I can reveal what was at stake was more than simply a grandfather, who has not been in the best of health, spending time with his grandchildren or even healing the wounds caused by Oprah, Spare, Harry & Meghan on Netflix, the court actions against the Home Office and all the rest of it – the Sussexes are seeking to reverse Megxit. It seems that a return to the UK is being contemplated in some form and that the couple’s holiday home in Portugal will be used as a staging post back to Britain.
Harry feels unwelcome in America: A friend of Prince Harry says: ‘There is definitely a feeling in his camp that he has started to feel a bit unwelcome in America. That has been an increasing and significant shift in sentiment, a feeling that the American dream might not be all that it was cracked up to be. I am told that this is coming from Meghan as well as from him. I hear that Meghan is all for rekindling with and reconnecting with Harry’s English side. She is fully behind it….England is where Harry’s heart has always lain. It is no secret that they went to the States to try and seek their fortune, to try to capitalise on his fame and his royalty to some degree. They have had successes. A $100million Netflix deal is not nothing. But that American dream is cooling and she feels an outcast status as well. She feels like she is trying to push fresh thoughts and projects but it is not easy. So maybe enough water has now passed under the bridge here for some form of a return.’
Harry never wanted to be estranged from the Windsors: That’s not a permanent or imminent return, but to hear it being mooted still feels like a bombshell. Another source, who is less sympathetic to the Sussexes, says they suspect a different kind of cooling may lie behind the manoeuvres. The source said: ‘I don’t think he’s ever wanted to be estranged from his family. I think when he was madly in love with Meghan he could be blind enough to choose her. Now things are different, and the veil is lifting.’
The Sussexes’ half-in scheme: The couple want to carry on making money in the US and elsewhere, but to be treated as ‘working royals’ when in the UK. The situation now is that Harry earns money from sustainable travel company Travalyst and business coaching firm BetterUp, and is trying to make money from the Archewell production company, while Meghan has her lifestyle company As Ever and gets commission from plugging outfits she has worn on an e-commerce platform. But Harry is also undertaking charity work with his patronages on UK soil and being welcomed by the King in his home. It is a short hop from that reality to Harry and his family staying in a royal palace when he is next in the UK. And if that protocol is established, which Harry apparently feels sure can happen next time, then he looks as ‘half in and half out’ – precisely what the late Queen barred the couple from doing – as you can imagine.
Harry will be back in the UK in September, and then in Birmingham next year: What we do know is that Harry will be back in September for another charity event. There is an expectation that there will be another meeting with the King, and that he will accept an offer to stay at Buckingham Palace – in good time, this time. Next summer, he will be in Birmingham for all ten days of the Invictus Games and the plan is that Meghan will come with him for the whole thing. ‘If she is in the UK then they will want to bring the children too,’ says the friend. If it is possible, I’m told he would like the children to see what he does and experience some of the atmosphere of the games, which are very close to his heart. Where might they stay? Highgrove would make perfect sense, geographically.
The Sussexes’ home in Portugal: Crucially, this travelling to the UK is going to be made easier by the Sussexes’ purchase of a home in Portugal. A source says: ‘They had a house built in Portugal for the kids to be close to their royal side in case they want to participate. It’s in a private part, I’m not sure it’s finished yet. Meghan was having Soho House decorate it.’ Harry’s friend says: ‘The house in Portugal is a foot on the right side of the pond and I believe that they spent time there after being in the UK last week and before it as well. It’s striking distance for them to get to London. Harry has no desire to be Eurotrash, he is very proudly British and English and wants to be in England but Portugal could be a kind of a stepping stone for a couple of years.’
Harry speaks to his brother?? What remains unresolved is the schism between Harry and his brother Prince William, the heir to his spare. Friends of Harry claim the two men ‘do communicate’ and say: ‘It would have been the most amazing signal to everybody if William had managed to be at Highgrove.’ That seems the faintest of prospects but Harry must be serious indeed about reconciliation to even talk about aiming for this outcome. As one Sussex source observes: ‘Everyone knows their future is not in his dad’s hands – it’s in his brother’s.’
“Everyone knows their future is not in his dad’s hands – it’s in his brother’s.” I’m begging William to get some therapy. Do you see what I mean about how this reads like William’s wish list of the Sussexes’ desires and fears? The crap about Harry’s failed American dream, the idea that Meghan is open to living in the UK, “the veil being lifted” on Harry’s love for his wife, the idea that owning a luxury villa in Portugal makes someone “Eurotrash”… this is all “Harry, according to William.” There’s more in this piece about how Harry is never going to fight for security anymore, and he’s also not going to sue the British press any more because he’s so humiliated in defeat! What absolute bulls–t.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Meghan’s Instagram and As Ever’s Instagram.
