It was one of the most obvious predictions, but still – as soon as we heard that the Sussex family plans to visit the UK next month, everyone knew that the Prince and Princess of Wales would spend the next four weeks thrashing around and throwing tantrums. Well, here we go. The opening salvo in what will be a month-long hissy fit from Prince William in particular. Incidentally, William’s 44th birthday is on Sunday and I’m sure all of his birthday profiles are going to be about how much he hates the Sussexes and how Harry is already dead to him. Forty-four years old and fueled solely by rage and hate. So, the opening salvo and preview of coming attractions comes via Tom Sykes’ Royalist Substack. Some lowlights from this exclusive: “Raging William Shuns Charles Over Harry and Meghan Invite.”

King Charles is happy about the Sussexes’ visit: The visit is being paid for by King Charles, who I am told is “happy” at the “outcome” which means he will get to meet his grandchildren, Archie and Lilibet, for the first time in several years.

Prince William refused to attend a Trooping lunch: I also exclusively revealed on my podcast with guest Mark Dolan yesterday that William is so appalled by what he sees as his father’s betrayal that he refused to join a customary family lunch after Trooping the Color last weekend, and left the celebrations with his wife, Catherine and his three children immediately after the RAF flypast.

William’s threats: He will boycott “the big house” at Sandringham “for ever” if Harry and Meghan are invited there, as they have been lobbying to be allowed to for several weeks, one source said. And an extraordinary revelation just published in The Sun, that Charles is footing the bill for Harry and Meghan’s security detail during the trip, will infuriate Wiliam, who will see it as irrefutable evidence that his father, who he believes has been weak, has allowed himself to be emotionally blackmailed by Harry and Meghan into greenlighting them a VVIP visit.

The fatted calf: Charles’ friends have defended the king, with one telling me tonight that he was likely inspired by the Bible story of the prodigal son, saying, “It’s a happy outcome for the king. The fatted calf will be slaughtered.”

William is owed respect!! However friends of William said the King should support his heir and that he owes William more respect. The king’s offer to underwrite Harry’s security means that a still unresolved decision from RAVEC about Harry’s security becomes irrelevant—for now. The fact that Charles is paying settles an argument I have been having with the rest of the royal commentariat for the better part of this year. While it is true that the Sussexes have been relentlessly pushing the story, the revelation that Charles’ office has been secretly planning the logisitics and how to pay for the trip shows the true engine of Harry and Meghan’s return to the tent is Charles. It is an astonishing betrayal of his loyal and dutiful heir who has made clear he never wants to see Harry again, believes he should be exiled (as far away as possible) and has told friends he blames the stress of Harry and Meghan’s betrayal for aggravating Catherine’s cancer.

William won’t be lectured by his father: Discussing William’s “frostiness with his pa,” one source told me, “[William] probably feels he is due no lectures from that quarter (Charles) on the subject of duty and personal wishes. [Diana] might just agree.”

Half-in!! The reality of this trip is that Harry and Meghan have won: they simply enacted the half-in, half-out status they wanted all along, and now the King is endorsing them….Charles and Harry are temperamentally alike: impetuous, impatient with the institution, quick to feel wronged.

[From The Royalist Substack]

I believe that William has reacted this way. I’ll buy that William made a point of not attending the Trooping lunch, and that William is fully wailing and threatening his father about “boycotting” Sandringham if the Sussex family spends time there. What’s funny about that in particular is that I think William has had full use of the Sandringham “big house” for years now, since the pandemic. When the family “stays at Norfolk,” I’ve always believed that Kate and the children are at Anmer Hall, where William stays at the big house or… elsewhere. Nevermind that the whole idea behind boycotting Sandringham is shockingly childish, even for William. Like, he would boycott a house where Meghan and Harry stayed for a few days? Really??

I also believe that William sees zero hypocrisy in punching walls and shrieking “respect my authority as heir” to his father. This is, after all, the heir who spent several years briefing the press that his father was close to kicking the royal bucket and that “the Scooter King reign” was almost upon them. Throwing these kinds of tantrums rarely earns the respect of anyone, that’s all I’ll say.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images, Backgrid.