It’s safe to say that Prince William and Kate have been thrashing around, breathlessly updating their media allies, adding half-assed events onto their calendars and spinning Prince Harry’s visit to the UK. As soon as William and Kate learned details of the trip around Trooping the Colour, they’ve been in panic mode and busy-work mode. We can see it with our eyes, especially when Princess Kate is sauntering around Wimbledon in her inspired-by-Meghan pantsuit. We can see it with our own eyes, when William suddenly managed three events in a week. Don’t forget the briefings as well, like this one to the Telegraph. Instead of screaming and crying about how much he hates Prince Harry, William is trying to play it cool, like he barely even pays attention to the Sussexes and no one in Kensington Palace tracks the Sussexes’ every move, every fashion choice, every word.
William will not meet Harry during his trip: This time, with days to go until the Sussex family lands, people seem to have forgotten to even ask [the question]. The answer is too obvious: Princes William and Harry will not meet. The brothers no longer communicate directly, their children do not know each other, and those who know them have no reason to think that will change. Their estrangement and its fallout have caused untold heartache and acres of column inches. It is a status quo that has lasted for years now, and is expected to continue indefinitely.
William & Kate scheduled a week full of appearances: Next week they will be around 25 miles from one another, but in entirely different worlds. The Prince and Princess of Wales will have a week of ordinary engagements between them, ending with a charity polo match and the annual trip to Wimbledon.
Harry’s visit: The Duke of Sussex has his own five days of what his office still calls “engagements”, visiting his charity patronages and holding meetings for his Invictus Games in an itinerary which could equally have taken place back in 2019. This time, his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, is supposed to join him for two events, subject to a last-minute panic over security.
The palace no longer freaks out for weeks over a visit from Harry: A few years ago, such a trip would have inspired incredulity and irritation from palace insiders left bruised by the way the Sussexes departed, and a difficult few years which included the airing of dirty family laundry throughout the illness and death of first Prince Philip, then Elizabeth II. But six years on from the Sandringham Summit and more than three since Prince Harry’s incendiary memoir, it is difficult to raise anyone close enough to Prince William to truly know who has a strong opinion about the visit. There is an acceptance that Prince William and Prince Harry will not meet. (“What do you think?” is the sarcastic response to the question in multiple quarters.)
William is not angry & definitely not incandescent with rage: There seems to be none of the visceral anger that there was in the heyday of the Sussex unburdening: the Netflix documentary, the Oprah interview, the memoir, the accusations about the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the sharing of family secrets. Instead, among palace allies and staff, there is a hope that the public understands the situation well enough to make up its own mind. Where the Sussexes have been viewed and treated as royal in other parts of the world, where there is less day-to-day knowledge of the British Royal family, Britain is used to the language of a “quasi-royal tour” and “ex-working royals”.
The Sussexes *need* the UK and the royals, we swear!! They are returning to Prince Harry’s home not on the crest of a wave of their commercial success, but in a lull: the Duchess’s As Ever consumables brand is in a marketing blitz, while Netflix viewers and podcast company Lemonada are awaiting their next project. Cynics believe they need a fresh promotional boost by visiting the King, although Sussex allies would point out that they have travelled around the world promoting Invictus events and this is no exception.
The half-in fears: Those who have watched the Sussexes since the difficult days of the Sandringham Summit warn only of the unwelcome creep of “half-in, half-out”, the arrangement expressly forbidden by the late Queen. There is a fear that such a trip to Britain will be accompanied or followed by interviews. Formerly it would have been a red rag to a royal bull. Now, the prospect is summed up by one source as “eye-roll territory”.
William is de-stressing & cutting people out of his life for remaining friendly with Harry: For Prince William’s part, friends have said previously, he has had to take a step back from the fray to keep focused on his own family and his future. The Princess’s cancer and chemotherapy gave the Wales family “new perspective” on their lives, it is said, and a renewed sense of needing to reduce external stress wherever possible. The few intermediaries that once existed between the brothers, mainly mentors from their younger years, have long departed from the inner circle of confidantes, on the understanding that one cannot have a foot in both camps. If the trip to Britain passes without incident, it will be welcomed. Perhaps it will even rebuild a fragile trust. It is hard to see how it could break any further.
It actually cracks me up in a sad way whenever William tries to play it like he’s unbothered and like he could not care less that his brother is in town. I truly believe William and Kate were likely on the verge of another breakdown at the prospect of Meghan coming to the UK as well, and if Meghan ends up being seen on British soil, the Wales meltdowns and attacks will come thick and fast. As I said, we can see William and Kate’s uncomfortable fixations on the Sussexes, and absolutely no one is buying this “William never even talks about his brother anymore” cover story. Pitiful.
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