Perhaps I’m wrong, but I think the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s team sent out a detailed briefing on their July trip to the UK mid-afternoon on Friday. “Friday afternoon” is an odd moment to basically confirm the biggest royal story of the summer, which is that Prince Harry, Meghan, Archie and Lili will visit the UK in just a few weeks. My theory? The Sussexes had a heads-up that the Mail’s Alison Boshoff was about to publish an unhinged exclusive about the UK visit, and they were like “enough of this nonsense, let’s step all over her story.” Just a few hours later, the Mail published this Boshoff exclusive, full of quotes from “sources close to Harry.” Those sources are clearly Windsor or Windsor-adjacent though. So, here are some highlights from the story which the Sussexes wanted to overshadow:

Why would the Sussexes even WANT to visit the UK?!? For all the talk, what no one seemed to be able to pinpoint last week was what Harry and Meghan would be doing here beyond launching the run-up to next year’s Invictus Games: where they might stay, who they might see, and whether they would bring a photographer or camera crew along with them. In short, what is the Sussexes’ broader strategic aim? What do they want to achieve? Those questions can now largely be answered. And they reveal the seeds of a post-Megxit future, which, if it comes to fruition, could be of historic personal and institutional significance for the Royal Family. For, as a source close to Harry revealed to me, this visit is nothing less than step one in Operation Reconciliation, a carefully thought-through plan to heal the wounds between Harry and his family.

What Harry wants: The prince is seemingly determined to ensure he and his wife delicately tiptoe through their visit here. He is, frankly, desperate not to ignite the embers of the bonfire of bad feeling that has roiled between him and the royals. He’s even hoping, I’m told, to have Meghan and Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, meet brother William, plus Kate and their children. First and foremost, though, Harry is aiming for a complete reset of his relationship with his father – with friends saying it is likely a stay is being planned for the Sussexes at Sandringham. The visit will be strictly private. No cameras, no subsequent Instagram posts, no revelations in interviews afterwards.

What sources close to Harry are telling Alison Boshoff: A source close to Harry told me: ‘Charles has let him know that he is really looking forward to seeing his grandchildren. Harry is looking forward to the visit, and to building bridges. That is what everyone wants. It was decided months ago that he would be coming with the children and with Meghan as well.’ A friend of Harry said: ‘The conversations started in January. Harry said that he wanted to come over with Meghan and the kids for Invictus and proposed that the Palace could support them. The view was that he would have to ensure that all of the family part of the visit remained private. He agreed to that in a heartbeat. The way he has conducted himself since then has led to confidence in this new version of Harry. He has changed a lot [since Megxit]. He has grown up.’

The 2020 rejection of the Sussexes’ half-in proposal: A source close to Harry said: ‘He and Meghan were hurt by how the family reacted. They felt that the reaction when they came to them with a proposal for a new way of working was, “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”’

The new plan!! Now, according to friends of Harry, a new idea has taken hold, which will see he and Meghan free to flog jam and make speeches for cash when they are in America, but treated as cherished members of the Royal Family when in the UK. The price for that is an assurance that there won’t be any commercial activity when over here. At least, that’s the new ‘deal’ as Harry sees it, and he is keen to keep to the terms when he arrives on July 6. A source close to the prince said: ‘Harry is determined to play this one with a straight bat, by which I mean that there will be no commercial activity around this visit – that goes for him and Meghan.’ The source adds that Harry believes the Royal Family’s stance on commercial activity ‘has shifted considerably – not over everything, but there is recognition in senior circles of the court that activities in the UK and the US are different. There is some acceptance that in the UK he can act as a semi-working royal as long as there is nothing commercial going on here. In the US, he is a gun for hire and can take the money. In the UK, he will not.’

The US-UK divide: Apparently Harry doesn’t think that it completely undoes the terms of Megxit, but he is optimistic that it might allow him and his family to move beyond the outcome of the Sandringham summit, which has sown only toxicity. His supporters argue there is precedent for the UK-US divide and that royals have always been allowed to make money in the US. This more nuanced position seems to have been made possible via gentle diplomacy by some of the King’s advisers. Harry’s supporters point out that former diplomat Theo Rycroft, deputy to the King’s private secretary, Sir Clive Alderton, is more amenable to making peace than Alderton and other advisers. Harry’s friend reveals: ‘There is much closer cohesion between their teams. This is a well-planned visit which is a result of that improved working relationship.’

NO NETFLIX!! It’s thought that Lilibet, born in California, has only met the King once, on the Sussexes’ trip to the UK around the Platinum Jubilee in 2022. On that occasion, Harry and Meghan released a picture of their daughter enjoying her first birthday at Frogmore Cottage. It caused outrage. The source said: ‘It was so far from where the Royal Family wanted to be, seeing family moments seemingly commercialised and thinking they might turn up on Netflix.’…Some news which will have some of Charles’s court spluttering is that there will be cameras in tow as the Invictus activities are being recorded by a film crew.

Divisive Meg: As for Meghan, she remains a deeply divisive figure both in the family and the country. The source said: ‘There is some nervousness from Meghan about how she might be received. They understand the British people feel as if she has turned Harry away from them and there was natural disappointment in how things have played out, but there are hopes of breaking the ice here.’

The Scooter King Situation: Harry’s friend, however, says that there is a WhatsApp group via which Prince Harry shares family news and pictures with the wider Royal Family. This friend also makes the extraordinary claim that Harry has hopes of meeting with William and his family. ‘The feeling among his friends is that Harry is likely to stay in Sandringham and that there will be a number of informal meetings with the wider family and yes, that will include William. They do not hate each other as has been reported. Are they tired of each other’s attitudes to this situation? Yes. Are they wary of how the other will react? Again, yes. But there is a lot of hope that there might be a civil meeting in a few weeks. Many years have passed and everyone is older.’ He adds: ‘Their wives may have to grit their teeth.’

[From The Daily Mail]

The absolute funniest part is that the palace apparently threw multiple tantrums at the very idea of Meghan “flogging jam” or updating her OneOff account on British soil. Heaven forfend, are the shades of Buckingham Palace to be thus polluted by JAM?? While we make fun of Prince William’s tantrums and the Kensington Palace clownshow freaking out over the Sussexes, the truth is that King Charles and his courtiers have been in a full-blown panic over Meghan’s Instagram since last year. Speaking of, BP is where Boshoff’s sources came from. All of these “sources close to Harry” are Charles’ people. I can tell – the throughline of BP’s talking points is this forced perspective of “but what does Harry actually hope to achieve by doing A, B and C??” The palace puts those talking points in their rota WhatsApp whenever Harry and Meghan go anywhere or do anything big. This is BP publicly announcing their terms around the Sussexes’ visit. I sincerely hope that Meghan updates her OneOff throughout the entire trip.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, As Ever’s Instagram.