I missed this story last week, but it’s got a few pieces of “news,” to me at least. Katie Nicholl at Vanity Fair wrote about Prince Harry’s birthday, and Nicholl was one of the few royalists to actually get quotes from people saying sh-t like “Harry’s really happy in California, he has no desire to ‘go back’ to that island.” Which feels notable, because many of us can sense that is the truth of the matter, a truth which many British reporters refuse to acknowledge. But then Nicholl adds something I haven’t heard before: Harry is looking to hire a PR person in Britain. The hell? Some highlights from VF:

Harry’s low-key b-day. “Harry is quite low-key when it comes to celebrating his birthday,” says one close friend. “This will be a special occasion, but not over-the-top and with the people he really counts as close friends.”

Happier than ever: [Despite leaving the firm] the Duke of Sussex is “happier than ever,” according to those who know him best. “He feels he has ticked all the boxes: He’s married, he’s a dad, he’s living the life he always wanted to live away from the media at home, and he’s really happy,” says the close friend. “He and Meg are really content, the relationship is good, and he loves how they are raising their kids in the sunshine and without too much pressure.”

Making peace with his father & brother? But Harry’s new life has come at a price. The prince remains estranged from his father, King Charles, and his brother, the Prince of Wales. “The problem is that the trust has been broken. The king and the Prince of Wales worry any private conversations with Harry could be leaked,” says a former courtier. “Charles is keen to keep the door open for Harry so that they can see more of him and his grandchildren, but as for William, that’s going to take a lot more time.”

Harry’s never coming back: Following Charles’s cancer diagnosis, Harry has hinted that he wants to repair the relationship with his father, but reports that he is keen to return to Britain are wide of the mark. “He misses his father and the close relationship he had with his brother, but I get the impression he’s relieved to be away from some of the toxicity that came with being in the royal family. He’s living a simpler life now and, I would say, a happier one,” the former courtier continues. And despite recent reports about the prince wanting to return to royal duties, sources close to Harry say he has no intention of resuming his official royal role, while those close to the Prince of Wales insist it would not be an option.

He’s looking to hire someone in the UK: However, rumors that Harry is looking to recruit a high-profile individual in the UK to help with the rehabilitation of his public image are correct, with Harry taking advice from various sources.

[From Vanity Fair]

In March, the Telegraph announced that the Sussexes had already hired a UK-based public relations executive to hold down the fort in British and European media relations, one would assume. That might explain the slight shift in how the Sussexes have been covered over there – there’s more pushback in real time, more denials from the Sussex camp when someone makes a particularly egregious claim. So is Nicholl confused? Is she saying that Harry wants to hire someone else, in addition to the UK-based person they already have? Or is she conflating?

“Sources close to Harry say he has no intention of resuming his official royal role, while those close to the Prince of Wales insist it would not be an option.” In fact, sources close to William have constantly insisted to anyone who will listen that Harry is just dying to come back and do William’s work but William is simply too angry and incandescent to allow Harry to come back. Harry’s constant refrain is: it would be nice to visit a few times a year to see my family and do some charity work. That has broken William’s brain and Charles’s brain too.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.