I keep going back and forth about whether I believe that King Charles is seething over the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in this current era. When Charles and Prince Harry met face-to-face last September, there was a change in how the palace (Charles’s staffers) spoke about the Sussexes and briefed about the Sussexes. Many have theorized that Charles sees the value in keeping open communications with Harry if no other reason than it drives Prince William crazy. William’s not the only one having a nervous breakdown at the thought of Charles and Harry’s improved relations – many royal reporters appear to have a vested interest in keeping the left-behinds at odds with the Sussexes for some reason. Speaking of, Richard Eden is once again ranting about “Project Thaw,” aka the “establishment plot” to bring the Sussexes back to the UK. Eden’s latest column has a big update – some highlights:

The Montecito working royals: When the plane lands in Washington DC on Monday at the start of their historic visit, Charles and Queen Camilla won’t be the only members of the Royal Family to find themselves working in the US – not, at least, if the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s cheerleaders are to be believed. For Prince Harry and Meghan are ‘running the Montecito branch of the House of Windsor’, according to briefings given to sympathetic journalists who covered the couple’s quasi-royal tour of Australia earlier this month.

The Sussexes are delighted with their Australian trip: While some of us were highly critical of the way the Sussexes used their trip Down Under to combine money-making with public engagements, they are said to be delighted with how it went. Their allies have made it clear that they saw the trip as a successful blueprint of what we can expect from them in the future. It is a highly dangerous turn for the King and the future of the Monarchy.

Harry’s Ukraine trip: Apparently determined to keep himself in the public eye, Prince Harry made a surprise visit to Kyiv this morning ‘to remind people back home and around the world what Ukraine is up against’. It’s all a big change from the Sussexes’ original plans for their life in America, which involved signing big-money deals with giant media companies such as Netflix and Spotify to produce programmes and podcasts.

Charles doesn’t want to antagonize: The King is desperate not to antagonise his younger son and his American daughter-in-law. Indeed, royal officials are horrified when they are asked about the Sussexes because they fear saying something which could offend the Sussexes.

The delay regarding the Sussexes’ police protection in the UK: It’s telling that when the royal and VIP executive committee, which authorises security for senior royals, met earlier this year, it was civil servants and not the King’s representative, who raised objections to the couple having their automatic, taxpayer-funded security restored. The civil servants feared a backlash from hard-pressed taxpayers who would have to pay for this automatic security.

An interesting quote: A friend of the royals tells me: ‘Their Majesties will not see Harry and Meghan while they are in the States, but don’t read anything into that. The King hopes to see more of his son and spend time with his grandchildren. This will happen in Britain before long.’

The endgame for the monarchy starts in Montecito!! The problem is that [Harry] is funding his ‘service’ by making money, and that a ‘half-in, half-out’ model could ultimately destroy the monarchy, as the late Queen wisely understood. In my opinion, the King needs to take drastic steps to prevent the Royal Family being tarnished. He should strip them of their Duke and Duchess titles, as well as Harry’s styling as Prince, just as he has done with his brother Andrew. If the Sussexes’ new model of money-making royalty is allowed to take root, it could eventually spell the end for the House of Windsor – and not just the Montecito branch.

[From The Mail]

“The problem is that [Harry] is funding his ‘service’ by making money, and that a ‘half-in, half-out’ model could ultimately destroy the monarchy…” Read that back – the monarchy will ultimately be destroyed by a prince and his American wife making money and doing charity work wherever they please. If the monarchy is so fragile, it cannot withstand Harry and Meghan’s four-day visit to Australia, then maybe the monarchy deserves to be destroyed? And that quote from “a friend of the royals” is very interesting indeed. It sounds like Charles is doing more than “not antagonizing” the Sussexes. It sounds more like Charles is more than open to seeing the Sussexes this summer. But we’ll see. Incidentally, I’m fascinated by the lack of follow-up reporting on all of these issues, and I think the absence of gossip is indicative of Harry and Charles communicating and keeping a lid on their plans.

Photos courtesy of Backgid, Cover Images.