I CAN’T FACE MEGHAN
With just weeks before their reunion, the duchess is feeling apprehensive
The Duchess of Cambridge is on a two-week countdown to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – and while the rest of Great Britain is already in celebration mode, Kate’s not quite so excited.
Sources say the 40-year-old’s “heart sank” when her brother and sister-in-law, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, revealed last week, in a somewhat snippy statement, that they will be attending the event with their children.
Just 18 minutes before their announcement, the Queen, 96, had declared that only working members of the royal family would appear on the balcony for the RAF ypast, meaning the Sussexes, who quit the monarchy in 2020, are out.
“e timing of all this shows Meghan and Harry are again spoiling for a ght with the family, and Kate suspects she’ll be dragged into it all over again,” says a source.
“After all, she’d know – Meghan went for her during her interview with Oprah Winfrey, knowing full well palace protocol prevents Kate from defending herself. Kate can’t believe that she, as a future queen, is having to deal with all this. Meghan would know Kate is a sensitive person and this would be getting to her.”
FULL OF DREAD
Sources close to Harry, 37, and Meghan, 40, say the couple intend to be there for the historic Service of
anksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral on June 3, setting the scene for a tense reunion echoing the last time they were in the same room as the Cambridges at a Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey.
“Kate is dreading the whole thing,” says a source.
“Unlike Meghan, she’s no actress and nds it di cult to mask her true feelings.”
According to insiders, the palace, where Meghan earned the nickname “Duchess Di cult” during her tenure, is bracing itself for her return after more than three years’ worth of damaging headlines originating from Camp Sussex in Montecito, California.
“Palace sta are expecting a laundry list of requests to come in from the Sussexes’ assistants any day now,” says a source.
“ey’re consistently headstrong about security, will most likely want some o ce space and will no doubt be trying to push their kids front and centre wherever they can. Not to mention rumours that they’ll use the trip to gather more fodder for their Net ix documentary and Harry’s impending memoir.”
For Kate, her focus will be on supporting her husband Prince William, 39, ahead of his reunion with his estranged brother.
“Kate’s trying to get her head right for that,” says a source.
“She’s trying her best not to worry about Meghan’s presence and instead be there for Wills, who’s also stressed about whether his brother will overshadow the Queen’s special day.”
‘Meghan and Harry are again spoiling for a fight’