When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex visited Nigeria and Colombia, “royal sources” were incandescent with rage, fussing 24-7 about “why are the Sussexes doing royal tours” and “why are they getting so much attention???” Given the sheer volume of complaining from the UK, it was clear that Harry and Meghan’s travels had all of the royal courts rattled. Meaning, Prince William might have been screaming and crying the loudest, but King Charles and his courtiers were also furious and watching the Sussexes’ every move. But… Prince Harry went to his father last September, and since then, the briefings coming out of Buckingham Palace have changed. My theory – and I have no insider knowledge – is that Charles and his people stopped throwing tantrums every time the Sussexes breathed and they’re just sitting back and letting William look like a controlling, obsessed idiot. Plus, given the events around Prince Andrew, Charles knows he would look horrible if he continued bitching about Harry and Meghan. Well, Ingrid C-Word thinks she knows Charles’s current perspective on the Sussexes: he’s washed his hands of them!

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle recently announced plans to visit Australia in mid-April for a series of business and philanthropic engagements. After news of their upcoming trip emerged, critics unkindly described it as an attempt to imitate their former life within the royal family. Weighing in on the same, TV presenter Mark Dolan pointedly dubbed it a ‘quasi royal tour,’ while royal expert Ingrid Seward suggested that King Charles had long distanced himself from the couple, despite their best efforts.

During an interview for The Mark Dolan Show, the TV presenter asked Seward, “What do you think of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to travel to Australia next month? Many criticized their faux royal tour in the Middle East a few weeks ago.” To which she replied, “They [Harry and Markle] are obviously trying to promote themselves, and they need to keep a high profile in order to make money.” Dolan then wondered whether the King would be pleased with the Sussexes’ ‘quasi-royal tour’ and their attempts to replicate their past life. Seward responded, “I think the King has probably slightly washed his hands of them. He’s got plenty of other things to worry about.”

With that in mind, Seward continued, “They [Harry and Markle] do what they like up to a point. I think he [Charles] has got more important things to worry about than what Harry and Meghan are doing at this moment.” Sharing her opinions on the couple’s recent tour to the Middle East, she opined, “I think they [Harry and Markle] are lucky they were in the Middle East a few weeks ago and they are not there now.”

[From The Royal Observer]

Harry and Meghan “are obviously trying to promote themselves, and they need to keep a high profile in order to make money…” They went to Jordan because they DONATED money to humanitarian groups in the area, and because they wanted to shine a spotlight on the work being done. Their trip to Jordan benefitted the NGOs on the ground and drove even more donations. Now, I believe that their trip to Australia is blended with commercial events and philanthropic events. And who cares? They’re traveling privately, they can do whatever they want and take on commercial work and that’s what happens when the Firm tells people to sink or swim. The Windsors have spent the past six years reserving the right to be loudly furious that the Sussexes swam to safety and make their own money. As for Charles “washing his hands of them” – as I said, there’s been a noticeable change in the messaging coming out of BP since last September. He also changed his tune because Prince Andrew’s situation has put him over a barrel.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.