Where do they go from here?
Despite being ‘called back’ from Canada by the Queen next month, Harry and Meghan’s decision to ‘quit’ Royal life has left big shoes to fill – and some hugely personal pain for those left behind...
Despite reports that the Queen has said ‘If they want to go, we must let them go,’ and that she is simply asking them to pause their new life for one hour to attend the Commonwealth Day service next month, one of the saddest aspects of the rift between Harry and Meghan’s move to North America is the distance – now both physical and emotional – that has developed between Harry and William. Doubtless, Diana would be heartbroken to see the once inseparable brothers now poles apart, and seeming to only communicate through rather stiff birthday messages on Instagram.
The service will see the former ‘Fab Four’ reunite in public. But is there any hope that their tight bond could ever be restored? Well, there is one secret weapon who could, perhaps, pour oil on the troubled waters – Harry’s sister-in-law Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge.
Before the troubles, their easy camaraderie made us all smile.
When they attended Royal engagements together, often giggling conspiratorially, it was clear how deeply fond of each other the pair were. They even once allegedly received a ticking off for laughing at the ceremonial robes William was wearing at an investiture. But now they are miles apart.
‘Kate and Harry were incredibly close, so I think she is pretty sad,’ says Katie Nicholl, author of Kate: The Future Queen. ‘ When she married William, she took Harry on as almost the third wheel. He was always welcome in their home and he would often drop in when William wasn’t there. He could be open
with
Kate in a different way to how he could be with William , and he really valued that. But things have changed.’
And Katie is in no doubt that Kate misses her brother-in-law.
‘She is incredibly loyal and loving, and her bond with Harry was very special to her. I am sure she misses having him around,’ she says.
Kate was, in many ways, the big sister Harry never had.
Kate has been a mentor for Harry and is believed to have played a crucial role in his burgeoning relationship with Meghan. ‘Kate was always very keen to find Harry a girlfriend and I do know that Harry was desperate for Kate’s seal of approval over Meghan,’ says Katie.
But obviously, the relationship between the two couples did not blossom in the way Harry had hoped and, of course, now they are left with the sadness that the Royal cousins will not now, grow up together.
‘As a Royal child, you have a very unique status, so it’s an invaluable relationship with a cousin. William and Harry were always very close to their cousins,’ recalls Katie.
And then, of course, there are the wider implications for ‘The Firm’. As the Queen grows older, she relies more and more on members of her family to carry out duties on her behalf. And when they were still senior working Royals, Harry and Meghan certainly had glamour and the ‘wow’ factor. These will be big shoes to fill.
Since their departure, Kate has certainly stepped up her Royal duties. But amid all the strain and upset, is a tough working schedule really what the mum of three needs right now?
‘The pressure really lies on William and Kate to step up to the plate. What this has done is really forced a rethink of the number of engagements the Royal Family can manage, With Andrew and now Harry and Meghan gone, quite simply they are three family members down and there’s a limit to what the other senior Royals can do. They are running on strained resources,’ says Katie.
So what the future holds is unclear, but in an ideal world, the rift would be mended, and Harry and Meghan would return to the arms of their family. After all, the Queen has stated clearly that ‘Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be muchloved members of our family’.
‘Look, there is a back-up plan – they still have Frogmore, and they will always be welcomed back here. I think everyone’s hope is that once the dust has settled they will spend a significant amount of time in the UK.
‘Everyone hopes there will be closeness between the two families again in the future,’ says Katie.
Perhaps, absence really will make the heart grow fonder – and one day, the ‘Fab Four’ will be together again. It is what Diana would have wanted and there’s no doubt Kate would be happy to have her old pal Harry back once again.
It is without a doubt the worst scandal to hit the Royal Family in its recent history. The world was stunned when Prince Andrew, the Queen’s second son – widely said to be her favourite – became engulfed in such a sordid and shocking affair that he was left with no option but to stand down from public duties – effectively resigning as a senior member of ‘ The Firm’.
But Andrew had no choice, as the fallout from his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the super-rich financier who died in a New York prison, waiting trial for sex trafficking charges, was simply too damaging.
Andrew first met Jeffrey Epstein, an American who made his fortune in property, through Epstein’s then girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the disgraced financier Robert. The pair forged a friendship and, what is known beyond doubt is, Andrew stayed in contact with Epstein even after his conviction for sex offences, staying at his Manhattan townhouse. But, more serious are the unproven allegations by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, 36, who claims she was trafficked by Epstein and used as a sex slave when she was a teenager, and forced to have sex with the Prince on three occasions.
In a BBC interview with Emily Maitlis, the prince strenuously denied that he had ever met Virginia, claiming that on the night they were said to have been together in
London’s Tramp nightclub, he was at a Pizza Express in Woking with his daughter, Beatrice. In a much-derided claim, he also said that he could not have been the man a witness described as sweating profusely, as his experience of coming under fire in the Falklands had left him with a medical condition that meant, at the time, he was physically unable to sweat.
In the course of the interview, Andrew failed to express any sympathy for Epstein’s victims and described his decision to associate with him after his conviction as ‘unbecoming’.
Emily Maitlis’s shocked response – ‘Unbecoming? He was a sex offender!’, pretty much summed up the world’s reaction to the interview, which was viewed as a terrible error of judgement.
A week after his interview, Virginia Roberts Giuffre gave her own interview describing her experience of being trafficked, insisting that Andrew was, indeed, the man she’d had sex with.
In the wake of the interview, several charities ended their association with Andrew and, since then, he has generally stayed out of the public eye, attending church with the Queen and trying to fly under the radar. But it is not going to be that easy to make the affair go away.
Virginia Roberts Giuffre recently tweeted, ‘Tick Tock Andy – time to talk!’ ‘The world is over the lies, the cover -ups and the simple fact that privilege buys your way out of facing the music. Do the right thing, if not for me then the countless other Epstein victims who deserve the truth’.
Andrew was thrown further into the spotlight when FBI investigators looking at the Epstein case claimed he had failed to follow up on his promise to assist them. He had declared himself ‘willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations’.
But FBI federal prosecutor Geoffrey Berman last week said Andrew ‘ has provided zero co-operation’. This claim reportedly left the duke ‘angry and bewildered’. Sources close to him reportedly said he had not received any requests for help from the FBI. The scandal is also casting a shadow over the forthcoming wedding of Andrew’s daughter, Beatrice, 31 and her fiancé, Edo Mapelli, 36. The Queen is said to have twice pushed back the date of the marriage – out of concern about the ongoing furore. They had to change their planned venue, the Guards’ Chapel, St James Park, after Andrew suspended his ties with military associations.
The Queen is said to hope that the forthcoming marriage will bring some much-needed positivity to ‘The Firm’ and is thought to have requested that everyone comes together to put on a united front. A source said: ‘The press officers hope to portray the Beatrice wedding as the event that brings the family back together. Aides know this will be a tough job, but it’s all they can do not just to save the wedding, but potentially the monarchy’s reputation.’
With the scandal swirling around Andrew refusing to go away, that is a lot of pressure on the wedding of a minor and not especially popular Royal…
‘The world is over the lies and the cover-ups’
Back in 1992, the Queen famously labelled a year that had seen three Royal splits and the fire at Windsor Castle as her ‘annus horribilis’, Latin for ‘horrible year’, describing it with typically dry understatement as ‘not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure.’ But what’s the betting that recent events could see 2020 running it a close second?
Not only has Her Majesty had to cope with the ongoing scandal surrounding Prince Andrew and the Jeffrey Epstein affair, and the rift between William and Harry, she is dealing with the drama of Harry and Meghan’s departure – with it falling to her as monarch and head of the family to carve out a solution for the young couple, that is unique in Royal history.
She took the unusual step of announcing publicly that she was disappointed that Harry and Meghan were to step down. And now comes a further blow – the sad news that Peter Phillips, the son of Princess Anne, is to divorce his Canadian-born wife, Autumn, after 12 years of marriage, a split that is said to have left Peter ‘devastated’.
Royal expert Katie Nicholl told best, ‘I really think it is one of the most tumultuous periods in Royal history. The blows seem to come thick and fast. I think the Queen is putting on a brave face, as she always does, which is one of the reasons why everyone has such respect for her. But this is probably the most disrupted period in the Queen’s reign since the death of Diana.’
But, at the age of
93, with a disruptive family, surely the strain must be beginning to tell? Katie said,
‘Last month, The Queen cancelled an engagement at Sandringham as she had a cold, and that is almost unheard of. I think it is an
indication that she is feeling – and I suppose showing – her age.’
And then, of course, there is the concern over Prince Philip, who will this year celebrate his 99th birthday. Since his retirement, he has moved to a cottage on the Sandringham Estate, and although the couple are said to speak on the phone every day, they rarely see each other, as the Queen is occupied with Royal duties.
A Royal source said, ‘Until recently Philip has been very active — carriage-riding, fishing at Balmoral and driving around Royal estates — although he no longer drives on public roads following his crash. His mind is as sharp as ever. However, the sad reality is that the Queen is more isolated. They are both making an extraordinary personal sacrifice for the country.’
Katie added, ‘Obviously, his health must be a concern for the Queen. He was in hospital just before Christmas – and let’s not forget, he will be 99 this year. Don’t underestimate the impact this will have on an ageing man.’
For The Queen, who cherishes her family, the news about Peter Phillips’ divorce will come as a blow although the couple describe their spilt as ‘amicable’ and ‘the best course of action’ for their two children, Savannah, nine, and Isla, seven.
Not only is the Queen very fond of Peter – who is said to be her favourite grandson – she is said to enjoy a close relationship with Autumn and was seen attending church with her back in September.
A friend told a newspaper, ‘Peter is devastated by this and just didn’t see it coming. He thought he was happily married and had the perfect family with two daughters, but he is now in total shock. Autumn is a favourite of the Queen and I’m sure Her
Majesty will be upset by this.
‘It’s the last thing she needs after all her recent troubles and you get the feeling that the Royal Family is falling apart.’
One consolation, however, will be the news that Autumn has no plans to return to her native Canada. However, after 68 years on the throne, during which she has always believed in ‘ keeping calm and carrying on’, we hope that Her Majesty will weather this storm, too.