As we discussed last week (endlessly), Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace’s social media pages both posted birthday messages for Prince Harry. The way palace insiders and royal reporters were carrying on, you would have thought that King Charles had single-handed negotiated a peace treaty. Throughout the week, the conversation shifted from “Charles was absolutely making a reconciliation overture” to “the social media posts were Harry’s reward for not selling out his family this month.” Well, how does Harry feel about all of this insane energy around a pair of tweets? He doesn’t really care. He didn’t ask for any of it.
Prince Harry’s 40th birthday shout-out from the royal family wasn’t something he sought as a “reward” for not dropping new bombshells on the Firm, sources tell The Post. The royals made headlines on Sept. 15 when they wished the Duke of Sussex a happy birthday on social media for the first time in three years as their ongoing transatlantic tensions continue. And while one report suggested the family posted the birthday message as a “reward” for the duke not recently divulging any potentially embarrassing stories about the Firm, a source tells The Post that did not guide the prince’s actions.
“He’s told his story, now he’s moving forward,” one insider revealed. “His priorities have shifted as he enters the next chapter of his life.”
The source added that Harry “recognizes the past and the past fuels what he does in the future — doing work that’s important to him and that’s important to the world.”
“His focus is on the future — dedicated to being a great father, a loving husband and driving the success of his many initiatives,” another source revealed.
If Harry’s shift in focus has helped thaw relations with his estranged family, it “could’ve been viewed as a welcomed effect,” an insider said.
But for the royal family, the birthday message may have been “quid pro quo.”
“It is a reward for not writing a new chapter, no new revelations in his book ‘Spare,’ and he’s not going to give any interviews to promote this book,” royal reporter Richard Eden said on the Sept. 19 episode of the Daily Mail’s “Palace Confidential” podcast, citing palace sources. “So it’s their way of sort of, ‘thank you,’ and a quid pro quo.”
“A pat on the head,” host Jo Elvin added.
So, when Charles throws a weeks-long tantrum about Harry’s visit in May, it’s all because Charles doesn’t trust him and Charles is still pissing mad about what Harry wrote about Camilla. But a few months later, Charles is now rewarding Harry? With a tweet? Come on – the Windsors were desperately trying to impose themselves on Harry’s life, as they have been doing for years. As for Harry’s new chapter… these have all been new chapters, it’s always been about looking forward. His memoir was largely about setting the record straight in his own voice so that he could move forward. That’s also why Prince William keeps pushing his own fantasy-stories about Harry’s pleas to “come back.” That’s the narrative they’re clinging to, that Harry is looking backwards, that he’s “angry” and that he’s desperate to come back to them.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.