Royals brace for impact as Meghan and Harry begin tour
THE Royal Family was today braced for fresh bombshells as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex begin a whistle- stop tour after flying in from California.
The couple are travelling to Manchester today where Meghan, 41, is due to give a speech on gender equality.
It comes just days after she launched another salvo at the Royal Family in an American magazine interview, saying that ‘just by existing’ she and Harry were ‘upsetting the dynamic of the hierarchy’ before they stepped down as senior working royals.
Harry, 37, also took a swipe at his family in the interview. ‘Most people that I know and many of my family, they aren’t able to work and live together,’ he told the interviewer, who said he ‘enunciated family with a vocal eye roll’.
The duke will give his own speech at an event in London on Thursday.
The Prince of Wales, who was pictured arriving alone at church in Balmoral yesterday morning, is said to have been wounded by the words and actions of his son and daughter-in-law and is likely fearing further attacks this week.
A friend of the prince said Charles was ‘completely bewildered about why his son, whom he loves deeply, feels this is the way to go about managing family relationships’.
The Queen is said to be keeping calm and carrying on, but a source told The Sunday Times she did not want to be ‘on tenterhooks’ all the time waiting for the ‘next nuclear bomb’ from the Sussexes.
Another Palace source told the newspaper: ‘Ultimately, they are bashing the institution that has put them in the position they’re in – the longevity of that strategy is not sustainable.’ Harry and Meghan have taken part several interviews since their departure from royal life, including a controversial sit-down with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 when they accused the Royal Family of racism and said the institution failed to help a suicidal Meghan.
Private security firms will provide a ‘ring of steel’ in Manchester for the Sussexes’ appearance at the One Young World young leaders’ forum today, amid a row over who pays for their protection on UK soil.
Specialist dog teams were seen at Bridgewater Hall, where Meghan will give her speech.
It is understood the couple and event organisers have arranged security after Harry was told he was no longer entitled to taxpayerfunded official armed police bodyguards.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police confirmed its officers were not involved, adding that security for the event had been ‘privately sourced’.
Two different dog teams were seen at the venue yesterday including one from private firm Global Support Services, which provides protection dogs, speciall ist detection dogs, close protection and other security services.
A spaniel was also seen being put into a van marked ‘Specialist Search Dogs’, which had the numberplate SN13 FER.
A team of cleaners were also on site, washing windows and using a blower to clear pathways. The area outside the 2,300-seat venue will be cleared of the public an hour and a half before the couple arrive, it has been reported.
It means they will avoid hearing any public boos which greeted the Sussexes at the Queen’s thanksgiving service at St Paul’s Cathedral in June.
The couple’s trip comes amid Harry’s ongoing legal battle with the Government over his security when in the UK.
He launched legal action after he was told he would no longer be given the ‘same degree’ of personal protection after stepping back from the Royal Family in 2020.
He said he did not feel safe under current security arrangements bringing his family here and has offered to pay for British police to act as bodyguards himself. Last month, he won a bid to bring a High Court claim against the Home Office.
Meghan and Harry are understood to have arrived in the UK on Saturday and stayed at Frogmore Cottage in Windsor.
A team of private security guards turned up at Windsor on Friday ahead of their arrival.
After today’s trip to Manchester, the Sussexes will travel to Dusseldorf tomorrow to mark a year before Harry’s next Invictus Games. They will return to Britain for the WellChild Awards ceremony in London on Thursday, where Harry will deliver a speech.
As well as a huge security operation, media access has also been severely curtailed to the events in the UK, with only hand-picked journalists able to cover them.
The couple are not expected to meet with any members of the Royal Family on this trip, even though Prince William and his family will be just half a mile from Frogmore at their new home, Adelaide Cottage, also on the Queen’s Berkshire estate.
The Queen is in Balmoral in Scotland, where she is due to meet the new prime minister tomorrow.
The Sussexes have no official plans on Wednesday, meaning they have time to see the Queen, but royal sources say this is unlikely to happen as she has a busy week.
‘Waiting for the next nuclear bomb’