In the week of July 7th-11th, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s representatives met with King Charles’s communications director Tobyn Andreae. The Mail on Sunday carried the story (and photos from the meeting) exclusives on July 12/13. Since the Mail published that story and those photos, there’s been nothing but drama and panic from the British media in particular. What was astounding was how few royalists acknowledged that this was a good and necessary first step towards Charles and Harry simply reopening communications with each other. Instead, the royalists spent a full week screaming about how the Sussexes should never be allowed to “come back” only they absolutely should be FORCED to BEG to come back, and they should also apologize to William! And Kate! And Charles! And Camilla! And the Mail’s editors! There was an immediate conflation of “Charles and Harry are taking the first steps towards reconciliation” with “obviously, this is all about the Sussexes wanting to come back to the UK to do royal work!” Well, the Sussexes have seen all of those panicked and enraged briefings and they’re laughing. People Mag got this story from Camp Sussex:
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have no intention of moving back to the U.K. despite a recent meeting between Harry’s aides and a member of King Charles’ team.
Speculation of a possible move came following the July 9 sit-down between Meredith Maines, the Duke of Sussex’s chief of staff and communications director, and Liam Maguire, the couple’s U.K. spokesperson, with the King’s communications secretary, Tobyn Andreae. However, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex aren’t planning to leave California, where they relocated in 2020 after stepping back as working members of the British royal family.
A source tells PEOPLE that the couple is very happy living in and raising their family in California and, as it stands, have no plans to leave. The Duke of Sussex, 40, will continue to visit the U.K. in support of his charitable causes and patronages.
The meeting was viewed as an olive branch and a possible reopening of lines of communication between the father and son, who have been estranged for years.
“It was a good first step,” an insider told PEOPLE exclusively. “It is always better to be talking.”
LMAO. To do this one week later is so funny too – Harry sat back and watched his brother panic-spiral and rage-brief for days. Six days of “the Sussexes need to come baaaack” narrative, and then Harry was like, yeah, I’m good, by the way, I have no plans of leaving California. To make matters even more hilarious, the Mail ran the same big “exclusive” about the Sussexes not moving back to the UK, but the Mail sounds absolutely deflated about it:
Prince Harry has ‘no plans’ ever to move back to Britain despite recent hopes of a reconciliation with King Charles, the Mail can reveal. Following news of a secret peace summit between aides of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and his father, it was thought the Windsor family feud could be resolved, paving a way for the prince to return to the UK.
However friends of Harry and Meghan have said the couple are ‘very happy’ in California and are never likely to return. A source, who is close to Harry, 40, said: ‘They’re very happy living in and raising their family in California and, as it stands, have no plans to leave.’
Last week the Mail on Sunday revealed that the King’s aide Tobyn Andreae met for drinks with the head of Harry’s household in Montecito, California, Meredith Maines, and her colleague Liam Maguire, who runs the Sussexes’ PR team in the UK, at a London private members’ club.
It was thought to be the first meeting between the feuding sides of the family in years.A source said: ‘Everyone just wants to move on and move forward now. It was finally the right time for the two sides to talk.’
It prompted speculation that there was a way for Harry to return to the House of Windsor after he and the Duchess of Sussex left the UK and stepped back from official royal duties in 2020. But the source close to Harry has now appeared to slam the door on the notion that Harry and Meghan might re-establish themselves in the UK.
It’s so strange that an entire nation can’t simply express a wish or a desire openly, they have to couch everything in cruelty, lies and rage. There’s just never been one columnist or reporter who can openly say or write “gosh, it would be so lovely to see the Sussexes live in the UK part-time, we’d really love a piece of the Sussex Sparkle.” I guess they can’t say that because the Windsors would fully panic and descend into even further madness. Anyway, just another reminder that one of the biggest mistakes the Windsors ever made was rejecting the Sussexes’ half-in offer. It really would have solved like 90% of this stuff. It’s so funny that William and Charles shot themselves in the d–ks this badly.
LOL, Harry has Oprah on speed dial, is able to travel for his charities without the news being leaked, and gets to go to Disneyland for his daughter’s birthday. He has a family he adores, a gorgeous house and is booked and busy.
Of course they’re not going back. Lmao.
Exactly this.
Doubling this. They had a gift in the hand with half in, and threw it all away. It’s so obvious that they’re (Rota) bitter, because they can’t stop talking about H&M, by regurgitating the BS headlines five years later! The British Press are the “Karen’s” of main stream news (sorry to any who’s named Karen in advance)
Why on Earth would they trade the sunshine, beauty and freedom of California for the grey misery and constraints of England?
The tabloids lied and bashed Harry and Meghan as a way to puff up William and Kate by comparision. They are now stuck and cannot backtrack that narrative.
But its clear they want the Sussexes back. I think the constant “Harry needs to apologize” is to reinforce the original narrative that somehow Harry and Meghan are bad compared to Will and Kate, but also to provide an excuse if Harry ever does return — there would be endless lies about how Harry groveled to William, how William must be a great person to have forgiven him, etc., saving them from having the backtrack on their earlier lies.
The Brit Media/Rota sat on, manipulated aand presented this story to distract from Prince Harry’s successful trip to Angola, retracing Diana’s footsteps through mine fields. Their headlines are a mess: “Harry WANTS TO COME BACK WITHOUT MEGHAN.” Then “HARRY WILL NOT COME BACK TO THE UK.” Now its “MEGHAN ISNT COMING TO THE WELLCHILD AWARDS IN SEPT.” Richard Fitzwilliams or whatever, is already pushing this narrative, for clicks.
Nearly 6 years and the Brits havent moved on.
Im sort of confused by the “source” language here and “insider” — i thought that Harry/Meghan camp always made statements directly?
No, they don’t “always make statements directly.” Their office regularly corrects false stories via People or The Telegraph using this kind of language.
That was their intention when they first left UK, putting their names to the statements, so people know it is coming from them. But, as Omid wrote in his book, this creates more issues, since it amplifies even insignificant stories, when it is said, the statement came from H&M’s spokesperson. So, they started correcting stories with “sources”. If it is a big story, Harry corrects it with his or spokesperson’s name in the story.
The thing that makes me wonder is that People, once again, refers to Meghan as Meghan Markle, as opposed to by her current name, Meghan Sussex. Sussex’s reps would use her actual name. (Also, Harry they call *Prince* Harry while she’s just Meghan.)
At the least, at this point it says something about the attitude over at People, that they refuse to acknowledge her stated name, or are too lazy to bother getting it right, especially after the reaction to her ‘it’s Sussex actually’ comment on WLM.
Longtime news editor here. I agree People should use her preferred (and actual) name, but there are several points here:
* Their spokesperson may have used Sussex and the reporter changed it. They’re not stenographers, even if this was the wrong call.
* Like it or not, Markle is the name she’s most widely known by. Sometimes the call is to be understood rather than technically correct.
* SEO. Media lives and dies on search results and (comparatively) very few people are searching for “Meghan Sussex.”
None of those trump being correct, but those are factors in play.
Anyone with a working brain knew that Harry was not coming back to work for the royal family. He and his family moved on never to return except for his charitable work. The unhinged stories is what the gutter rats like to print to sell paper.
In order to find peace and security Prince Harry crossed borders and literally fled for their safety after they pulled all the security and leaked the location they were using so imo there is no way in this lifetime Prince Harry is allowing his family security and life choices to be under that control even again even part time.
The media want him back and yet they continue to write nasty stories about him, it doesn’t make sense.
So how many times are they going to recycle this story? Even the tabloids have to be bored with the royal family at this point. Charles will never see Archie and Lillibet, Harry will never reconcile with William, and Kate will spend the rest of her days easing in and out of public duties.
To me, the most interesting tidbit came at the end of the People piece: The Duke of Sussex will continue to visit the UK to support his charities and patronages. But no mention of Meghan. So I don’t think she – or the kids – are ever going back. Not even to Invictus.
I honestly don’t want any of them going to the UK Invictus Games, but especially not Meghan or the kids. I do believe (based on what Harry said once) that the kids will go when they’re older, but no way should their first IG be in England.
As for this article, it’s funny how mild and friendly the Daily Fail article is. It’s almost like they realized they overplayed their hand by acting like a psychopathic stalker ex. If Harry (and maybe Meghan) actually had been considering coming back more frequently, they sure as hell wouldn’t do so now after the madness of the last week. Nothing has changed with those obsessed creeps.
This makes me think Charles is still inflexible about giving them security, so nothing changes. Without armed security there’s no way Meghan and the kids can be there, not after their trashy tabloids have badmouthed them for years.
LOL. The press can’t admit that they want Harry and Meghan back because they were the ones who encouraged the Palace to not accept the half in proposal. The press and the Palace believed that Harry and Meghan would fail and would come crawling back within a year.
That shows you the incompetence of Charles, Camilla, Willy and Kate and the men in grey. No vision. And I want to add Anne, who has influence over the king. I also wonder how aware QE was when they denied the half in/half out.
💯 The Firm received bad advice from the start and then ran with it under this mistaken belief that Harry would abandon Meghan and his child(ren) and come crawling back on his knees begging to be let back into the cupboard under the stairs–where they are keeping all his bargain basement clothes from TJ Maxx–humbly resuming his life as Royal work horse and William’s whipping boy.
It’s like they didn’t know him at all.
I think it’s the arrogance of that family. No one ever left the cult and they could not imagine Harry leaving with Meghan.
But now they are reaping what they sowed and it’s hilarious to watch.
Lol, I love how the DM can “reveal” that they’ve read People magazine.
😂😂😂
Ha ha! Yeah – star reporting!
I think what I enjoy the most about this is that, had they been less vindictive & more far-sighted, they could have bathed in the reflective glory of everything Harry has been doing these last years with Invictus Games trips to Colombia, Nigeria, Ukraine; his trip to Angola, his speeches in China & America – it could ALL have been HRH Prince Harry, filling the void of having 2 senior Royals MIA.
The downside would have been how As Ever was handled. Its obvious Charles & Meghan have converging interests, & he successfully launched Duchy Originals so could have provided insight into what to expect.
William, of course, would have been so ‘incandescent’ he likely would go supernova at some point, & Kate would have viewed Meghan’s easy rapport with people with seething rage.
I hope it keeps them up at night.
Interestingly Duchy Orginals was initially a commercial failure. Waitrose had to come in and rescue it for it be successful.
What “downside” to how As Ever was handled? And in the name of all that’s holy, what possible insight wd chucky hv been able provide to As Ever which SELLS OUT with every product drop?
A merchant whose products are sold out within an hour of being available for sale, is a “champagne problem” that I guarantee that chucky would love to have.
So……..no. There was no possible way that chucky could have “provided insight into what to expect.”
@wesley said the downside “would have been…” because he was talking about the hypothetical situation if only the press wasn’t crappy and H&M weren’t forced to leave. Then they would have had Charles trying to butt in and give As Ever advice.
So, good thing that all didn’t happen.
Kate wanted her out. The contrast was huge. She felt threatened by Meghan, a modern, intelligent woman.
They ALL wanted her out, all the Final Four.
And they didn’t care how “out” was achieved … leaving, divorce, death, as long as she was gone.
They just couldn’t imagine that Harry would be gone too. Because the FF is just that dense, stupid and self-involved.
I have no doubt Harry misses UK. It is his place of birth and he has a cherish family on his mother’s side who I am sure he would like to spend time with, that does not mean he wants to move back and be abused. I have a feeling that H travels to the UK to stay with the Spencer when he feels like it and goes out with selected friends, maybe in disguise. I also think that most H’s friends are wealthy somewhat can meet him in Africa or wherever to have bonding time.
Looking at the rear image of Meghan in her beautiful Dior coat you can see what appears to be the outline of a bullet proof vest. The threats were and are real.
That would not surprise me at all..
The fact that Meghan would have to wear a bulletproof vest (which is totally believable) is very depressing. It’s despicable.
If you really felt that someone under seige was wearing a bulletproof vest under their clothes, it would be an irresponsible, cruel and mindless thing to reveal that in a a gossip column.
Aye yai yai!
If it’s visible in a photo, it’s not a secret. So it wasn’t “revealed”, relax.
While their need for security is real, I don’t see anything under her clothes and I very much doubt Harry would take her to an official event where he or she felt the need for a bulletproof vest for either of them. Nor would she go, I’m sure. No Jubilee would be worth that for either of them.
(Which of course shows that the Queen allowed Harry to have the security he requested, and illuminates the question of why Charles won’t do the same.)
I mean duh? Who the hell would choose to go back to that compared to where and how they live now? They would have to be insane
At best, a headline could read that Harry would like to visit the uk for his charity work. If the security issue was different, then the headline could possibly read that the Sussex family would like to regularly visit the uk to see family friends and charities. But the security issue is what it is.
Horrifying that Charles allows this to happen to harry Meghan and the children
What parent would punish his son for leaving home as an adult to build his own life.? Isn’t that the whole point of parenthood, to watch your children fly away to live their own lives? This whole family is dysfunctional.
Dogs. The big sign the Sussexes are planning to return is as to where their dogs are.
Now that the Sussexes have confirmed they’re not returning, where oh where are the MIA Waleses?
I mean yeah they have dogs and rescue chickens and geese over at Oprah’s pond. That does not suggest a move back to the uk.
I’m sorry, what do you mean? Where are their dogs?
QE2 knew they weren’t coming back because the Sussexes took their dogs with them. So dogs are a big sign. And other animals too. That’s why Chuck sold off QE2’s horses after her death in unseemly haste. I think Chuck hated his mother, hence his relationship with the Rottweiler as the faux mother.
For all the fanfic the rats writing about Harry returning – sans Meghan – prostrated and begging, it ain’t happening. Harry found his true value outside the system.
If the dogs aren’t going to England, then neither is Meghan,
It is my firmly held belief that the revelation in H’s intvw with the BBC that HIS FATHER actively influenced RAVEC into not treating H’s security assessment as they do for everyone else; PLUS the revelation that chucky & his henchmen told GOVERNMENTS AROUND THE WORLD NOT TO PROVIDE SECURITY for the
Sussexes was a bodyblow to the monarchy
in the eyes of consequential people
around the world. Have you noticed that
the uk media hv stayed far away from these revelations?
So, against the bkground of this body blow to the monarchy, the blatantly “leaked” meeting between H’s comms people & the former dailyFAIL editor who know works for chucky & Gladys on the latter’s recommendation, was just another (literal) photo-op that was given the greenlight by chucky in service to what the monarchy does best: smoke-n-mirrors; firm over substance; elaborate pretension.
It was crucial for chucky to be seen as the loving father/benevolent king as damage-control for that bidy-blow to the monarchy. Too many folks were being more convinced that the monarch orchestrated Diana’s death and that the same is being planned for the Sussexes.
Nothing will come from this “meeting” between the Sussex snr team members & chucky’s rep. Bcos the intent isn’t that anything should come of it. The intent is “clean-up on aisle 4” of chucky’s image.
Unfortunately I must agree with you that an orchestrated accident ( for the Sussex family) would be met with rejoicing.
Total agreement with both of the above. Chuck said it with his whole chest, didn’t he?
“A successful attack on Prince Harry would not significantly disturb the British public”
He said that about his own son. His own son.
Charles didn’t just shoot himself in the Dicky Arbiter with that statement, he shot the monarchy itself in the head with this entire “bully the Sussexes” gambit. The monarchy is now on life support, specifically because of the ongoing attacks on H&M originating from the Palaces and their tabloid media flying monkeys, but the palaces either can’t or won’t understand that.
Harry understands it though. Meghan understands it. And that’s why the response here is so final and brutal. Harry’s basically saying “You set your own house on fire Pa, and I’ve brought marshmallows. I’m going to watch you, my brother, and all your collective courtiers and tabloid bums burn it all down.”
Exactly. The fact the result of this meeting is not to announce that Harry and family will receive full security when in the UK says nothing was resolved. So Harry and Meghan are saying clearly they have no intent to ever go back to live there.
Oh dear why is the Fail so deflated when they have retained the best brother here and even better, he’s going to be King shortly and deliver immediately on the decades of hype without even leaving one of his castles because he’ll just be thinking of this kingdom with empathy? No actual work just spend, spend, spend all that lovely unearned duchy Dosh and all he asks in return is that we leave him alone to enjoy it although he’s good to wave to the peasants from the balcony once a year. Might even get the family to throw some bread down to the masses like they are feeding ducks, won’t that be fun 😊?
As the old saying goes … “No shit, Sherlock.”
I guess the British media wet dreams were put out by a ice block when Harry said hell to the no.
The Firm and the BM really need to stop abiding by Disraeli’s “Never apologize. Never explain.” advice. It’s a tar pit of disastrous decision-making that still acts as if the Empire is still on top.
Not only did KCIII and wee Willy the incandescent shoot themselves in the d-ck, they keep reloading and doing it over and over.
If I had a dollar for every time the Brit press had Harry slamming doors, I been as rich as a common billionaire.
“It’s so strange that an entire nation can’t simply express a wish or a desire openly, they have to couch everything in cruelty, lies and rage.” Having lived there (only for 6 months), I can say this isn’t far off. Especially the first sentence.
Perhaps, the Daily Mirror front page gave the game away with its headline: “Prince must make peace now… there’ll be no way back under King Wils.”
The way I read it, Charles and William desperately want the (pre Meghan) Harry back (hint: he no longer exist) —William pretending he doesn’t want Harry back, he may think he is gaining leverage. Charles, on the other hand, seems more focused on polishing his image before his time is up. The real complication? Camilla. She’s been enjoying her reign as KING and appears to have already groomed William to extend her reign once Charles is gone.
Let’s be honest: these leaks aren’t coming from Kensington Palace. They’re coming from Clarence House. Either they’re faking surprise at leaks they orchestrated themselves, or Camilla is deliberately stirring the pot. The nature of the leaks—like intimate details about funeral plans and Charles’ personal staff—are far too close to home for William to know. This all points directly to the inner circle of Clarence House. (Remember, William never told Harry he was going to marry Kate, he read it in the newspapers. The Windsors take their privacy seriously even amongst each other.)
Someone suggested the leaker is trying to curry favor with William—and that someone could very well be Camilla. Charles has recently, granted her titles, yes, but she didn’t get Andrew’s Royal Lodge as a retirement home ensconced in the inner court of Windsor Palace (Kate got her house) , and her children still don’t have titles. William is likely to inherit Clarence House since no one wants to move into Buckingham Palace, which would leave Camilla with exactly what she had before marrying Charles. Funny how just last week her son publicly claimed he’s earned everything on his own—conveniently forgetting that one of the first things Camilla secured after marrying into the royal family was trust funds for both her children (and likely her grandchildren), not to mention a job at the Daily Mail. Not to mention how she tried to usurp Kate’s Wimbledon moment and it backfired by showing people forced to stand upon her entrance.
In the end, “making peace” under Charles means very little. Look how quickly he overturned the provisions Queen Elizabeth II had put in place for Harry. Charles’ promises don’t hold much weight.
I agree with 99%of what you wrote. Camilla is definetely looking out for herself and getting rid of Harry and isolating William more could be very well her plan.
But I think she goes out of that marriage with more than she had before. I would be surprised if there isn’t money hidden away somewhere. And what about the missing jewels? Broken in small parts they could be made to money.
On the other hand maybe Charles punishes William by leaving Sandringham etc. to Camilla??? Paying inheritance tax might be worth it?