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Harry has to give ‘appropriate warning‘ for royal accommodation
Where in the UK can Prince Harry call home? That’s the theme of a weekend of feverish reporting – first, an alleged snub by Harry to King Charles over his stay at Balmoral; In another story, Charles offers Harry residency if he stays in the country, while a third claims that Harry will have to quit if he wants to stay anywhere.
According to the Sun, Harry turned down an offer from Charles to spend the anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s death at Balmoral. Instead, Harry spent the time alone and traveled to Windsor on the day of the anniversary to pay his respects to the late monarch at the King George VI Memorial Chapel in St. George’s Chapel – where the late queen is interred in the Royal Palace – vault along with husband Prince Philip and her parents – before she flew to Düsseldorf to open the Invictus Games.
The Sun said Harry had requested royal accommodation and security for his one-night stopover, but a senior royal adviser had “politely” told him that royal staff were in the Highlands and that Harry was “welcome” to join the family in Join Balmoral. where Charles and Queen Camilla spent “private family time.”
Harry declined the invitation, reportedly claiming his itinerary “made the trip impossible.” It could have been a bit awkward – Harry had said that Camilla had been “leaving bodies on the street” as she rose in the royal family.
According to a report in the Telegraph, Harry has now been told that he will be given a room at the royal estate with enough notice. The newspaper says this arrangement was made after he asked for a room during his visit to Windsor Castle for the WellChild Awards earlier this month, but was refused. Instead, he stayed in a hotel, the Telegraph says. It is added that he tried to arrange a time to visit his father in Windsor, but this was not possible as Charles was in Scotland.
The Telegraph said: “Royal sources have stressed this [accommodation on the royal estate] wherever possible, but the palace must be given adequate warning of such a visit.”
Charles may offer Harry and Meghan royal digs
Charles, the Sunday Times reports, could resolve one of his Harry-related issues by offering his son and Meghan Markle accommodation at the palace when they visit the UK – possibly at Kensington Palace. (This could get interesting if Prince William and Kate Middleton are ever in town at the same time – they still have a home and office in the palace, even though they spend most of their time in Windsor.)
Charles is considering making the offer to Harry because he has retained Harry as a state adviser – one of seven members of the royal family who can represent him if necessary – and by law those who hold such a position must have a United Kingdom home. Until last fall, Queen Camilla, William, Harry, Prince Andrew and his daughter Princess Beatrice were listed as councilors of state, even though Harry, Andrew and Beatrice are not working members of the royal family. In November, Charles asked Parliament to add Princess Anne and Prince Edward to the list, deciding not to exclude the others to avoid further tension in the family.
Meghan and Harry pictured at Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral.
Toby Melville/Portal
A friend of Charles told the Sunday Times: “The king can see that removing Harry as state adviser would be seen as an act of hostility and he doesn’t want to do that.” If, as a result, there is a pied-à-terre somewhere on the royal estate “If his son has to be expelled, that seems like a sensible measure.”
However, a Buckingham Palace spokesman told the newspaper: “These claims are not true.” Instead, royal advisers said Harry could be offered temporary accommodation for short visits “where possible.”
“It’s not particularly helpful to be nowhere. There are friends and hotels, but I know they would like somewhere to be.”
– Friend of the Sussexes
A friend of Harry’s told the Sunday Times that the Sussexes would like to have an established British base. “It’s not particularly helpful to be nowhere. There are friends and hotels, but I know they would like to have somewhere. Meghan seems to have decided she doesn’t want to come back, but Harry would like to. It’s appealing to have a base in your home country despite everything that’s happened. There’s still a lot of work to be done here in terms of charities and there will be occasions in the future when he’ll want to be here a bit more. If they could have kept Frogmore, they would have – it was the perfect setup for them. The last time he was there he did a fair bit of cleaning up and he was confident but quite sad.”
Charles’ offer of a house “would be a slight softening of relations,” the friend said. A house on a royal estate, the Times points out, would also help ease Harry’s fears about his and his family’s safety in the UK
tall tales
They’re not actually burning Queen Elizabeth’s letters yet, but some historians are getting nervous after the Mail on Sunday reported that Buckingham Palace has given the task of pre-sorting the late Queen Elizabeth’s letters to her favorite courtier, Paul Whybrew. commonly known as the great Paul. Scholars have expressed concerns that such an ad hoc approach by a less-than-impartial adviser could lead to some documents being suppressed or destroyed.
It is widely believed that Princess Margaret burned many of the Queen Mother’s letters after her death, and historians fear that history could repeat itself, especially since no official biographer has yet been commissioned with the task of documenting the Queen’s life.
Queen Elizabeth visits the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute at the University of Edinburgh in 2021.
Jane Barlow/Pool via Portal
The history lecturer Dr. Alison McClean from the University of Bristol told the Mail: “The late Queen’s diaries have the potential to become a significant historical resource.” Mr Whybrow is undoubtedly a valued and trusted member of the royal household, with intimate knowledge of its inner workings. However, he is not a qualified historian or archivist and may not fully appreciate the historical significance of the material contained in these diaries. There is also a risk that he will feel obliged to put his loyalty to the royal family above the interests of historians and researchers.”
Biographer and historian Andrew Lownie, a long-time campaigner for greater transparency in the royal archives, said: “The royal family has destroyed records in the past and there are fears this could happen again.”
An anonymous historian told the Mail: “We must remember the enormous damage caused by Princess Margaret when she went through the late Queen Mother’s papers.” She made a bonfire, put the papers in black plastic bags and burned them – including letters from Princess Diana.”
Très bien: Charles and Camilla’s state visit to France
King Charles and Queen Camilla’s state visit to France is being considered a success, reports the Daily Telegraph. Apparently shouts of “Vive le Roi” could be heard in the street. Camilla played a comically terrible game of ping-pong with Brigitte Macron, President Emmanuel’s wife – who apparently had great chemistry with Charles herself, to the extent that the Telegraph and Sunday Times described it as a “bromance”.
King Charles and Queen Camilla taste cheese in Bordeaux.
Daniel Leal/Pool via Portal
Following the visit’s success, a source close to Charles told the Sunday Times: “It frustrates him that personal problems are interfering with public duty.” He would much prefer the focus to be on his work rather than the soap opera of private life. It’s always frustrating when family dynamics overshadow the public role.”
The Telegraph found Charles’ pivotal speech to the French Senate on the state of the planet to be resonant but not overtly political. The bond between the two women was also clear, particularly when Ms Macron helped repair Camilla’s cloak on the evening of the grand banquet at Versailles.
As the Times reported, Charles and Camilla went to a vineyard in Bordeaux on Friday and toasted with wine from their wedding year in 2005. The newspaper noted that some sections of the press criticized Charles for flying from Paris to Bordeaux because of his stated commitment to the environment. The regional daily La Dépêche du Midi wrote: “There are no more planes between Paris Orly [airport] and Bordeaux, with the exception of King Charles III.” It said the choice of flight “might seem surprising for a king who has made the environment a priority.”
“France has surpassed itself, not only in size and splendor, but also in the undeniably positive reception, both in the ceremonies and in the people who came to meet them.”
— Royal Spring
A royal source told the Telegraph that the palace was broadly pleased with how the state visit went: “France has outdone itself, not only in size and splendor, but also in the undeniably positive reception, both from the French and French ceremonies as well as the people who came to meet them.” The newspaper Le Parisien said Charles had clearly “captured the hearts of France.”
Next up for Charles is a state visit to Kenya, likely in the autumn, which will raise a far more complex set of issues to navigate in the modern Commonwealth.
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William and Kate’s clever PR game
The Chron reports that William and Kate’s savvy PR game is due to an aggressive, very online strategy from their staff, which includes an in-house videographer who takes video of their public appearances and then ensures that they are posted promptly be put online.
Prince William and Catherine attend a film premiere in 2021.
Henry Nicholls/Portal
“These short clips, available on social media shortly after a royal visit, have increased the sense of accessibility and allowed the Waleses to operate more flexibly and without the burdensome entourage of journalists and cameramen that would have been expected in earlier times would be,” says the newspaper.
The couple have also realized how much the public loves a selfie and is happy to pose with those who want to take one.
United Front
Speaking of selfies, The Mirror reports that Harry and Meghan took a selfie with Katy Perry’s parents during an event on Friday. The couple certainly radiated joy as they made a public appearance together at a glamorous charity bash hosted by Kevin Costner for his One805 Live! Organization dedicated to supporting first responders.
The couple also reunited with their most famous interviewer, Oprah Winfrey, who was also in attendance. The location would have made for a relaxing evening, with the event taking place at Costner’s private polo field, just a stone’s throw from the Duke and Duchess’ sprawling family estate in Montecito.
Bench press
Meghan Markle’s children’s book “The Bench,” as some may recall, was launched with an informal reading at a New York school in 2021. But now it turns out that the event may not have been as casual as footage of it suggested, and that’s helping work because the Duke and Duchess of Sussex sought to restrict the freedom of speech of educators and students, some of whom were only five years old.
Meghan Markle attends the 2021 Global Citizen Live concert in Central Park.
Caitlin Ochs/Portal
Consultants acting on behalf of her Archewell Foundation attempted to get Public School 123 to agree to a clause prohibiting anyone from expressing negative opinions about the event in person and on social media now or in the future. Representatives of her company, Archewell, sent a “publication release” to the Department of Education containing the proposed gag clause.
The Sun reported on the documents under a Freedom of Information request, but could not determine whether the agreement was ultimately signed. Sources at Archewell told the newspaper they were simply following standard procedures.
This week in royal history
Buckingham Palace released a photo of Queen Elizabeth’s final resting place on September 24, 2022. In the King George VI Memorial Chapel in Windsor (commissioned by the Queen herself as her father’s final resting place), a black marble main stone bears her name and those of her parents, George VI. and the Queen Mother, and her husband Prince Philip.
Unanswered questions
Will Charles offer Harry and Meghan accommodation in the palace – and will it help thaw royal relations if he does so? Charles and Camilla’s trip to France and William’s trip to America were generally viewed as successes. But how will the royals deal with more complex political and cultural issues when visiting Commonwealth countries?
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