People: QEII’s funeral ‘has been a kind of triggering of past grief for Harry’

Unsurprisingly, Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral takes this week’s People Magazine cover. Unsurprisingly, the bulk of the story is about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their strained relationships with the new Prince and Princess of Wales and the new king. While People Magazine wants to walk that fine line – as always – of being a sympathetic outlet to ALL royals, I’m disappointed that they seemed to take such a pro-Windsor approach here. It feels like Meghan and Harry weren’t briefing about the family though, even though the family was eager to brief about and against Meghan and Harry. Some highlights from People’s cover story:

No hugs at the funeral: “When families have a falling-out, you long for them to hug one another,” royal biographer Penny Junor tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “It broke my heart.”

It’s been a triggering visit for Prince Harry: Harry’s estrangement from his father and older brother over leaving royal life in 2020 with his wife, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, was never fully out of mind. “This week has brought a lot of emotions to the surface and has been a kind of triggering of past grief for Harry,” says a friend.

The tired Windsors: Of the grief that played over the faces of each family member, Samantha Cohen, the Queen’s former assistant private secretary, says, “They looked tired. Now it’s real, and the real mourning starts. The reality of life without the Queen starts now.”

Charles & William cutting out Harry from the start: Arriving after the Queen’s death, Harry stayed at Balmoral with his uncles and aunts while Charles and William left for a private dinner. “Everyone was hurting,” says another close source.

Olive branches: Olive branches were extended to the California couple, who relocated to the U.S. under a cloud of accusations and hurt feelings to raise their young children, Archie, 3, and Lilibet, 1.

The outing outside of Windsor Castle: William invited his brother and sister-in-law — by text, says a close insider — to join him and wife Kate Middleton, the new Princess of Wales, in greeting crowds outside Windsor Castle. But there was no real togetherness on that outing and no progress toward reconciliation, says the insider: “It was awkward. Both couples found it hard. They were in a stoic spirit of just getting through it for the Queen.”

Charles wants Harry & William to mend fences: Those close to King Charles and Queen Camilla hope, for the sake of his new reign, if not salvaging ties, that William and Harry will now follow their grandmother’s lead. “You’d think that all members of the family would unite and support the King, especially,” says a source close to King Charles. “Perhaps some wounds can be healed in the process.” It would likely have been Elizabeth’s dying wish. Adds the close source: “She knew that conflicts were a part of life, and she didn’t hold grudges. Most of all, she wanted to see her family happy.”

[From People Magazine]

Excuse me? “Who relocated to the U.S. under a cloud of accusations and hurt feelings to raise their young children…” So vague, this cloud of accusations! So minimizing to describe what Harry and Meghan are STILL going through as “hurt feelings” too. The only part of this which doesn’t sound like a massive manipulation by the Windsors is the part about how triggering this was for Harry. You could see that in so many moments, this ginger prince walking behind the coffin of another woman he adored, the second maternal figure in his life. He was just a boy when he tried to process his mother’s death. Now, as a man, he has the tools and resources to process his grandmother’s death in a different way. A healthier way, away from his terrible f–king family.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images. Cover courtesy of People.

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35 Responses to “People: QEII’s funeral ‘has been a kind of triggering of past grief for Harry’”

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  1. girl_ninja says:

    People magazine is straight trash and has been for YEARS.

  2. Harla A Brazen Hussy says:

    I’m so glad that I canceled my People magazine subscription years ago, their overt reluctance to speak the truth is frustrating.

    • Cessily says:

      They are just a glossy national enquirer. I canceled my subscription and blocked them from my online news/entertainment sources also, they are truly a trash magazine.

  3. ThatsNotOkay says:

    The Queen was Harry’s second and likely last maternal figure. It will be tough.

    Still, Charles hates at least one of his shitty brothers and has been a shit to him in return. Deservedly so, I would say. So if one of his sons is a shit and acts shittily toward the other, should the other grin and bear it? You didn’t, Charles.

    • lanne says:

      So glad he has Doria

      • aftershocks says:

        ^^ Exactly @Ianne. Doria is Harry’s mother-in-law, so the Queen is NOT Harry’s last maternal figure. He also has his Spencer aunts, Sarah and Jane, who knew their younger sister Diana well. I would hope they both have been and continue to be a source of maternal comfort for Harry.

        As well, Harry’s former nanny, Tiggy Legge-Bourke Pettifer is still close to Harry, and she is likely one of Archie’s godparents.

    • Surly Gale says:

      very very very well said. @TNO

    • Christine says:

      That is probably Willnot’s entire stompy-footed tantrum, when talking to Chuck. “But you got to get rid of YOUR brother!!!!!”

  4. WiththeAmerican says:

    They use a highly photoshopped picture of Kate and everyone else looks human and like they appear in video.

    That’s bias in action.

  5. JMoney says:

    The royals are using the exact playbook they have in the UK for the US. They buy or create “relationships” with tabloid magazines to put their narrative out. One thing they haven’t gotten right yet is their approach to SM. SM changed the game literally. Yes older ppl tend to still read actual magazines (which is the Royals base and they literally need them hence they will never stop using tabloids/celeb magazines) but most consume their info from SM esp the young.

    The media is never going to call itself out nor hold its self accountable. The day they do that is the day the biz (b/c it is a biz) will fall so it will never happen. They will gaslight Harry and Meghan until their old age and minimize their suffering.

    • Well Wisher says:

      This is yet another example of the same myth being propagated by the propaganda arm of the new king.
      It explained why they do not want him to publish his memoirs.
      That would render this type of propaganda useless.
      They individuals within that family want to punish and control their son and brother, this is no longer on only William, who has two puppeteers at his disposal.
      They stuck to the script although Kay has somewhat conceded its futility. This is the convergence of two wildly different ideas concerning the role of Prince Harry within that institution.
      It shows two varying type of management skills, the Queen’s used the carrot approach, the Sussexes thrived and succeeded.
      That began their acquaintance with the other managerial tool – the stick.
      The Sussexes experienced agony within the system and endured a failed but painful attempt at emasculated by the incompetents with the help of a sick media.
      The Sussexes eventual departure has meant that the Queen was better at the job.
      A quick read of Forces take on his retirement showed that she saw Prince Harry as the proper replacement of her husband to the consternation of the two heirs.
      His passion &skill set was apt.

      Harry and Meghan aced the assignment, left, returned for the funeral and had to once again endure another attempt.
      Whereas the Queen had it right the first time.

      Then weasel time by new king.

      As Kaiser indicated the only true statement is Harry’s triggering, it exposed their….

  6. Jay says:

    It’s a small thing, but it always makes me laugh when the rota include the detail that William apparently invited his brother to the walkabout “by text”. William is hip to the latest tech, guys, he can even use a phone! No more carrier pigeons!

    • Saucy&Sassy says:

      Jay, do we really think that William has Harry’s number? Maybe he just uses a burner for his family. If I were him, I would not let the tabloids know his phone number, because they will hack gain.

      So, do we really believe that William texted Harry?

  7. BayTampaBay says:

    Charles really does not care one fiddlestick about what QEII wanted or Edward would have already been granted the title “Duke of Edinburgh”.

    • Well Wisher says:

      His cares aside, why give your word if you do not intend to keep?
      What about the idea of honour?

  8. Amy Bee says:

    This is why Harry has to publish his book. The Windsors are still being portrayed as the victims. It’s clear that the family put Harry and Meghan through hell this week and I hope that they take the necessary steps to recover from this. The Royal Family deserves no sympathy.

  9. Queen Meghan's Hand says:

    I love that the most flattering ‘mourning’ shots of the Wailses were of Kate serving Pure Disney Villainess and Wails looking constipated. Wow, is that an intimidating shot of Kate. I am scared.

    It’s interesting to see both People and Gayle King make this “everyone tried to make an effort but there’s no much hurt” play. It’s annoyingly way too conciliatory towards the Windsors, more than it needs to be. Wails and Kate are not going to freeze out People mag, they can’t afford to, so I don’t know why People mag doesn’t reflect the current attitude of the American public. Gayle King is likely parroting the tone from the Sussex camp. I guess the directive is “when they go low, we go high”.

    • Debbie says:

      But didn’t Gayle already say on TV that she had “no information” from anyone to give. So, her “Everyone tried to make an effort but there’s too much hurt” assumption could just be from what she saw during their walkabout, and their postures. I don’t think she’s parroting the Sussex tone because I don’t think the Sussexes have spoken to any media about this experience.

  10. Over it says:

    If I had a subscription to people, I would cancel it but not before I told them why I was canceling it. The way they continue to be dismissive of the real abuse and racism towards Meghan and Harry, is in itself abusing and racism all over again.
    I am also going to need someone powerful in the media to finally say that what was done and is still being done to Meghan and Harry, is abusive racism. I am tired of all these famous powerful people continuing to look the other way. If something tragic was to happen to either Harry or Meghan, then they will all be oh, we feel so bad , our hearts go out to their children. Why wait, you have the power to Make a difference now. This is why I wish Kaiser and celebitchy had a much bigger platform, because they are the only honest people with eyes who call this shit out for what it exactly is.

  11. Surly Gale says:

    Why is William offering a back-handed salute? Are there different salutes for different uniforms? Or does he just not know how to salute?

    • Seaflower says:

      That is how the UK military salute.

    • Jaded says:

      The palm-out salute goes back to the early/mid 1700s. Protocol up until then had been to remove their hats as a way of greeting fellow officers, but their gloves were often dirty and would smudge their hats, so they started raising their right hand to the brim of their hat with the palm out so it kept their headgear clean.

    • Dutch says:

      The army and the RAF (where William served) use the open hand salute. British Navy uses the palm down salute.

      • KT says:

        Different saluting motions as well – likely due to the lack of space on board ship in the Navy and the likelihood that hands would be dirty from climbing rigging.

        Unlike Army officers, who were traditionally ‘gentlemen’ who just gave orders to the rank and file, Navy officers were expected to actually know how to sail a ship, and to get their hands dirty while doing so.

    • Debbie says:

      It never fails to remind of the Benny Hill Show, which is not a great image of the military.

  12. Becks1 says:

    When the most they can say about William to make him see like a bigger person is “he texted his brother,” the house of windsor is in trouble.

    And Kate on that cover looks so cold.

  13. A says:

    That expression on Baldy’s face when they’re walking up to talk to the mourners, as if he’s thinking, “Well alrighty then, let’s get this done and over with.” Way to go, Baldy. What a comforting presence he must have been.