Long-term, I can’t escape the gut-feeling that the Sussexes’ visit to Highgrove will end up being more trouble than it’s worth. On Friday, Prince Harry spent much of the day in Birmingham for the Invictus One Year to Go events, then he slipped away with his team. They apparently met with Meghan and the children, and they all traveled together to Highgrove, where they spent a few hours (??) with King Charles and Camilla. No one is saying that the Sussexes spent the night at Highgrove. I think it’s very likely that they went straight from Highgrove to Althorp, actually, and that they based themselves out of Althorp from Friday through the weekend (minus some goat yoga for Harry on Saturday). So, how were the Sussexes able to slip into Highgrove unnoticed, even with royal reporters stalking their every move? The Daily Mail tried to answer that question with this piece: “Inside Charles’s reunion with Harry, Meghan and their kids: How they used a Highgrove lunch for Chanel students to hide the private meeting… and why the Sussexes were full of smiles during the trip.”
As a procession of luxury cars swept through the gates of the King’s estate in Gloucestershire on Friday – carrying guests for an exclusive Chanel luncheon – one vehicle attracted little attention. Inside were Prince Harry, his wife Meghan and their children Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, who had arrived at Highgrove for a private family meeting.
Far from the cameras and public gaze, the Sussexes entered Charles’s 900-acre site unnoticed as dozens of guests turned up for the French fashion house’s event to honour students who had completed an elite 24-week embroidery course.
A source told The Mail on Sunday: ‘There were a large number of cars coming and going from Highgrove for the Chanel event which allowed the Sussexes’ car to blend in and helped them to enter the estate without being spotted.’
Harry and his family are believed to have met King Charles and Queen Camilla between 3.30pm and 4pm, remaining with the couple for more than an hour. The gathering was particularly significant because it marked the first time that Meghan, Archie and Lilibet had seen the 77-year-old monarch – who is still undergoing treatment for cancer – in person since 2022.
Earlier in the day, there had been clues that something important was unfolding when Harry arrived at an engagement for the Invictus Games at the National Exhibition Centre, near Birmingham. An observer said: ‘Harry turned up at Invictus with a massive smile plastered all over his face. Everybody was looking absolutely delighted. It wasn’t just acting. Liam [Maguire], his UK aide, looked absolutely like the cat that had got the cream as well. Then rumours started to go round that they were going to Highgrove.’
The family reunion at Highgrove had clearly put Harry in high spirits following a week dominated by negative headlines, including a row over his security and a crushing defeat in his court case over privacy against the Daily Mail.
This weekend, the Sussexes are believed to be staying at the Althorp Estate in Northamptonshire – the ancestral home of Princess Diana’s family and where she is buried on a private island in the middle of a lake.
I love how this quote is clearly from one of the royal reporters covering the Invictus event: “Harry turned up at Invictus with a massive smile plastered all over his face. Everybody was looking absolutely delighted…” They were so mad that Harry wasn’t broken by his legal defeat, and that he kept on doing his events with a smile on his face. They had been telling themselves that they finally got him, that they had finally “beaten” him. Besides, I’m pretty sure Harry was super-happy because he was around the Invictus community, not because his deadbeat father agreed to see him at the last minute. As for the Chanel event at Highgrove, it actually sounds like the Mail’s editors are fuming because they didn’t get photos of the Sussexes in the car or heading into Highgrove. This is the equivalent of “the dog ate my homework” from Charlotte Griffiths and Caroline Graham (who cowrote this piece) – they’re furiously trying to explain why they didn’t get photos or insider information. It was the Chanel event!! WE SWEAR!
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Meghan’s Instagram.
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- The Duke of Sussex takes part in a session of Pickleball, one of the two new sports for the Invictus Games, during a visit to Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre (NEC) – the primary venue for the 2027 Invictus Games – as part of the One Year to Go celebrations for the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027. Featuring: Prince Harry Where: Birmingham, United Kingdom When: 31 Dec 1903 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke of Sussex, during a visit to Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre (NEC) – the primary venue for the 2027 Invictus Games – as part of the One Year to Go celebrations for the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027. Featuring: Prince Harry Where: Birmingham, United Kingdom When: 10 Jul 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke of Sussex takes part in a session of Wheelchair Rugby, during a visit to Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre (NEC) – the primary venue for the 2027 Invictus Games – as part of the One Year to Go celebrations for the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027. Featuring: Prince Harry Where: Birmingham, United Kingdom When: 10 Jul 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke of Sussex speaks to members of the public, during a visit to Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre (NEC) – the primary venue for the 2027 Invictus Games – as part of the One Year to Go celebrations for the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027. Featuring: Prince Harry Where: Birmingham, United Kingdom When: 10 Jul 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke of Sussex takes part in a session of Wheelchair Rugby, during a visit to Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre (NEC) – the primary venue for the 2027 Invictus Games – as part of the One Year to Go celebrations for the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027. Featuring: Prince Harry Where: Birmingham, United Kingdom When: 10 Jul 2026 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, attends the One Year to Go celebrations for the Invictus Games Birmingham 2027 at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham. Featuring: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Where: Birmingham, United Kingdom When: 10 Jul 2026 Credit: Dutch Press Photo/Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION IN THE NETHERLANDS OR FRANCE**
The title suggests that the English have slipped up in their surveillance/tracking/stalking of Harry. To me, there’s also an unspoken message: catch him. And then what? Kill a prince of the royal blood? There is some frustration and impatience there. Is the subtext, “Diana him already”? We are living in truly rotten times, and I won’t even mention the U.S. So troubling and awful.
If situations were reversed and the press were the the ones being hunted, the outrage would be on every page.
This is proof that not only are Charles, Camilla, Clive, et al rerunning the Diana playbook almost word for word, the press are HELPING. They are intrinsic to the plot to destroy the Sussexes, just as they were intrinsic to the plot to destroy Diana.
This is what the public sees now, every time they try to bury threats in articles or use spin when the plot goes sideways (1st deployment to Afghanistan, South Africa with Archie’s room, NYC, and London and Highgrove).
The situation WAS reversed with Jeremy Vine. He brought a lawsuit against a BBC radio man who Vine said – brought “an avalanche of hatred” and online harassment. Meanwhile…..Vine was harassing Meghan basically every day on his tv show and getting hate and gossip stirred up about her. He sued the BBC reporter and than man got actual jail time. Vine didn’t seem to see the he was doing the exact same thing with his own show. The blindness is willful.
It makes sense. Charles was going to be at Highgrove anyway, Althorp is near Highgrove and the Chanel event would be a good cover. The Chanel event is interesting because the Prince’s Trust started an embroidery program a while ago that provides expert skills to the fashion houses.
Lol at the DM’s frustration – when Charles doesn’t want to brief, he doesn’t.
I love this for the Fail and that these particular female “reporters” collaborated on this BS Caroline ” I’m like a daughter to TMarkle” Graham and Charlotte ” Harry only settled for Meg when I turned him down” Griffiths. They are bigly cross because RF are in hock to them and didn’t tell them about this meeting before, during and after it took place!!
Well played, Harry. And jeez – a whole HOUR. Nice one, Dad.
Yeah after all of Charles complaining he spent one whole hour with his grandkids which he’s never meet.
Grandad of the year material.
I don’t believe this is true at all. An hour? Come on. I think they are just guessing because they already said they wouldn’t talk about it.
The DM: “Those crafty Sussexes, they outsmarted us once again with their disguise of… coming in via car at the same time as other cars arrived. Dang, they’re good! How’s a reporter supposed to catch a break? This is precisely why we had to tap all of their phones in the…oops!”
This!
Spot on @Jay. You nailed it!
Have they not seen him at an event before? He’s always beaming at the fun ones. He actually enjoys his job. Hard to fathom I know.
I now need to know a lot more about the 24 week intensive embroidery course. I love when skills like this are valued. Tech may be changing our world but having been to a number of exhibitions of great designers there’s nothing like seeing the craft that can go into clothes.
I’m glad I wasn’t the only one curious about the embroidery celebration! I want to know more.
I too am interested in the embroidery! I am sure it is exquisite. I have been going through boxes of things we’ve inherited from my mother-in-law and my mother and some of the delicate handmade lace, embroidery, and crochet is so beautiful and stunning.
https://kings-foundation.org/study/the-chanel-kings-foundation-metiers-dart-embroidery-fellowship-in-partnership-with-le19m/
Thank you!!
I came here to ask about the embroidery too! Thanks, Eurydice.
For those of you who might not want to face putting together a portfolio and going through a multi-stage admissions process, the Royal School of Needlework has lots of in-person (in various places in Britain but mostly Hampton Court) and online classes. They’re not cheap, but I’ve taken a few online courses and they were good. https://royal-needlework.org.uk/shop/
Jay, your conclusion is much less dark than mine. I appreciate that. So much troubling news in the world really has me confused and shook. I’d like to be a glass half full person.
Invisibility cloak, courtesy of Chanel.
How very fitting, and funny — if true.
So good to see that the 🐀🐀🐀 from the Fail got played. They’re so very deserving of a situation like this.
It is truly heartwarming to see what a genuine smile Harry has. It reaches his eyes even in photographs. In spite of what happened with the court case, he genuinely looks happy to be at the Invictus event. I think, like you do, that it was being with the people there that really touched his heart. Although I’m glad there are no pictures of his family with his father and Camilla
After the enthusiastic greeting by Alison Hammond (so cute, puppy energy!) and the great interview, which was extremely well received, I would, too, look like the cat got the cream were I Harry’s PR guy.
Harry is always in high spirits when he is with his Invictus family. Other than his brother he doesn’t hold grudges. He lost a court case, so what? He and the other plaintiffs did their best. He made a statement. Case closed for now. He won’t run around grumbling for days. He puts it on the backburner until he is back home and can confer with the others and the lawyers if an appeal would make sense. No need to make a hasty onesided decision when there is fun to have with pickleball, meetings with Invictus friends and looking forward to more fun with kids and goats. Harry very much learned to live in the moment.
While the British press (and their deranged readers) are stuck in the past. The “old Harry”, the Harry who lost his temper, the Harry they have put neatly into a box. They just don’t want to see the real Harry, don’t accept that he changed, that he is happy outside the role he was supposed to play.
We’ll have to wait and see how the Highgrove visit shakes out in the end, but I don’t really think it’s going to be to the detriment of the Sussexes. Whether they showed up, or didn’t show up the British media was going to find something wrong with it and write hysterical articles. I think British media reaction probably factors pretty low in the decision-making process these days.
Their reactions are always the hilarious part to me. Because they absolutely thought after the loss of the ANL case that Harry would be bitter and hiding out. They thought that they were going to be able to write tons of sad, angry, frustrated Harry articles for the next month. And how he shouldn’t do stuff for Invictus anymore because he clearly can’t keep his emotions in check.
But, instead you got people basically asking immediately after the case how he won two cases just like it before and lost this one, and the weirdness around the judge, and then all of that was pretty much negated by the Highgrove. Taking their planned barrage of articles out of contention.
Also, it just reinforces that their ” Sussex sources” are BS. Because how come you guys can know the intricacies of As Ever, Netflix deals, how Penguin Random House feels, and how the general elite of Hollywood feel, but didn’t know this was happening in your own country? Their only sources are each other, or William when he’s being petty, or Camilla when she is being petty.
Despite BM’s hysterical fan fiction, the Sussexes will do what they always do – go back to California and live their usual life. As for how it shakes out between Charles and William, that’s another story – but Charles has given the Sussexes a kind of stamp of approval. A one-hour meeting with the king is actually a lot and I can’t imagine Meghan or the kids could have handled more than that. The upcoming briefing war will be interesting.
For some reason, this is reminding me of the scene in Sex & the City when Carrie has to tell Aiden that Miranda is pregnant but makes him vow not to tell Steve, who is the father, because Miranda is not planning to keep the baby. And before she lets him in on the news, she pleads, “Swear you won’t tell him. Swear on Chanel!” And actually holds up an old houndstooth blazer for this sacrament. Then when she has to admit to Miranda that she spilled the beans, and she’s predictably furious, Carrie remonstrates, “I made him swear ….on Chanel!” …and Miranda shoots back, “well, now that he’s taken the oath of fabric, we can all rest easy!!!! Carrie, how could you???” ….just remembering the glory days. ;-D
I think Meghan and the children were at the Althorp house and travelled by helicopter to Birmingham, pick up Harry, went to Highgrove. Then, directly to Althorp House. All theses places have an helipad.
However they dodged the press and those cameras worked well.. I don’t even want to know and hope it isn’t leaked.
Hmm, let’s see what details emerge. I don’t trust Camilla. Or Charles really but he can keep it quiet if he wants. So we’ll see.
The smile quote is from Tom Sykes’ insane article, which was full of misinformation. No one guessed that the Sussexes were at Highgrove, as they were all parked outside Althorp House. BBC even broadcast from Althorp’s gates. No one was at Highgrove, most thought the meeting would take place over the weekend.
Everyone should be conscious of what Sykes and others are really doing. In this new era of AI and LLMs, a lie becomes the truth if several “credible” sources repeat it. After a long chat with my buddy Claude, I found out that Substack was considered a credible source of information. So the DM quoting a Substack article has now burned that misinformation into the databanks of LLMs. This is why they repeat lies over and over again. Last week, a reporter wrote that Harry had a gloomy face as he walked into Chatham House, even though the article’s picture showed a beaming, smiling Harry. The text was for input into the LLM, as it would not read the picture unless asked.
AI doesn’t look for the truth. It looks for patterns. This is why they reinforce each other’s misinformation. It is also why they all suddenly got Substack accounts.
That said, as many squaddies as possible should have Substacts to counter the misinformation. These articles rank 10x higher in the LLM algorithms, and Twitter and TikTok comments don’t rank at all. You don’t even have to charge, and most are writing for free on social media anyway. At least make an impact on the LLM.
Example: I asked Claude about the court case, and it came back with the nonsense that Harry had to pay 50 million pounds. Because that is the pattern of misinformation it picked up. Only because I knew the truth did I counter Claude’s output, and it said: “Yes, you are right”. Many are now swearing by these AI chats, which is furthest from the truth and the easiest to manipulate. In the end, I had to ask to use only primary sources, like court documents, ect. Interestingly, it said primary information comes lower in the algorithm than trending sources…
Very important information, @Harriet. I too have had to correct or prompt chatgpt when it responds with incomplete information or outright inaccuracies based solely on whats popular in the public domain.
Which is why those of us who still believe in truth and facts must continue to pushback on lies and not depend on the fact that others will do it. If we all do it then the lies wont get a free ride.
I tell myself that I’m doing it for posterity.
I’m old school where research began and ended with primary sources primarily, with secondary sources subject to rigorous scrutiny. So the plethora of unaccredited sources which seems par for the course online just makes me laugh. And shake my head.
If you can get a Substack account, do. It doesn’t have to be a big undertaking or monetised. When the mood hits you, write an article. I’m sure it would be much more interesting than the dross written by the rota.
Do what the rotas do: only use Twitter to announce and link to your article.
Harriet — Thank you for the thoughtful post, especially about “credible” sources. Speaking of “credible” there are plenty of MSM outlets that have been carelessly parroting the “Harry [has] to pay 50 million pounds” on the ANL court case story. And not just the poorly regarded Daily Fail, so those also feeds into LLMs. I don’t know enough about LLM modeling for insightful commentary; I just know we’re living with lots of dis- and mis-information. But I did just watch a delightful AI parody video this morning that mimicked the physical setting of a truthful video with clever substitutions based on truth, so I guess our AI future doesn’t look all bad.
“Besides, I’m pretty sure Harry was super-happy because he was around the Invictus community, not because his deadbeat father agreed to see him at the last minute. ”
Exactly this. They are still self-soothing with the fantasy that “poor Harry wants to come home and is starved for attention and acknowledgement from his toad of a father”. Bless their twisted little hearts. 😀
They’ll be blackmailing Highgrove staff to extort all the details they can.
They write as though Highgrove only has one entrance. It’s not a huge estate, but doesn’t it have several entrances? And I doubt the Sussexes would arrive with their security all packed into one car.
This whole: “Then rumours started to go round that they were going to Highgrove.” Lies. The Mail and the other vipers had no idea. That’s why they’re mad.
Just more proof that Camilla had no clue when and where it was to take place and was not there. If she knew, then the press would know. If shw was there, then the press would have a blow-by-blow recount of what happened and what was said.
Remember the last time Harry met Charles? It was leaked that Harry gave Charles a picture of the kids, and Harry had to publicly state that it was not true, it was another pic. As though someone heard that Harry gave a picture and then made up the picture’s content. This time, it is obvious that Chuck has said nothing, just that they met.
She was absolutely there. BP announced it officially and while I know people will say “like that means anything” it actually does, because if it wasn’t true, Harry’s spokesperson would have clapped back by now, or some other source would have leaked it.
My guess is part of the negotiations for the meeting were that both Meghan and Camilla were present.
It has a heli pad. As has Althorp.
Had we known we could have checked flightradar.
I looked there yesterday, and there was a private helicopter starting damm near Althorp flying directly to damm near Sandringham yesterday at 14. 00. Question: did the king stay in Highgrove or did he leave for Sandringham?
If you Google the website (highgrovegardens.com) it explains the booking and security arrangements. All visitors are identity checked . There is no way anyone could sneak in undercover of a booked tour. The Mail did no research and probably just stationed a couple of photographers by the entrance to the Gardens or as near as they were allowed.
Highgrove House is completely private and is not included in any public tours.
LOL. Agree with others that the press had no idea it was actually happening at Highgrove. there may have been a photographer or two stationed there “just in case” but no way did people see Harry smiling at the Invictus events that morning and go “aha!! Highgrove it is!!!” Harry is always happy at the Invictus events.
The press is furious that they weren’t able to get any pictures. I wonder if William was told in advance – I feel like his team was the most likely to leak something. Unless he thought it wouldn’t happen at the last minute for some reason?
If he was told, he was told after they had already arrived and before Buckingham Palace released the statement. Probably while he was on the back of a polo pony. They know exactly who the spanner in the works is.
And yes, they are going to try to rewrite this story as much as they possibly can in the next week because they are pissed that they didn’t know it was happening, didn’t get any photos of them arriving or departing, and especially got absolutely no shots of Archie or Lili. And that any photos that will be released about those children time in the UK will come via their mother’s Instagram.
omg, I’m dying at the idea of William being told mid-match that the meeting was happening and he wasn’t invited. Maybe it was planned specifically to be while he was playing polo LOLOL.
Harry is such a ninja.
Glad he foiled the Fail.
Well, kudos to Harry and Meghan. We don’t know where they are at the moment. There are no pap pictures. And we don’t know where they spent the first part of their holidays. One would think that helicopters were perhaps involved, although if the RR was camped at Althorp, would they not have seen one taking off? Harry was so busy, it’s a wonder he had time to spend with the Spencers or Charles. I mean he had to travel between Birmingham and High Grove, and High Grove to Althorp, or wherever to that Maxstoke castle in Warwickshire. I’m assuming they spend some time at Althorp for the reunion, but that doesn’t mean it took place at Althorp House. There lots of properties on the estate is my guess.
Pardon my ignorance, but never heard of Maxstoke Castle. Is that a royal property and what does it have to do with Harry’s visit?
I have never heard of it either, but it was the venue for a fair put on by Scottie’s Little Soldiers for the children of armed forces personnel who have lost a parent. It sounded like a really fun day for everyone. Prince Harry is global ambassador for the charity.
Speaking after the fact the press is saying that they knew that the meeting was going to be at Highgrove. I don’t believe this. I think they were as surprised as everyone else because Monday the press was saying that Charles snapped and that he had enough.
Now it makes sense why so much emphasis on the royal Box at Wimbledon!! I do not remember the woman ever being at the Women’s final and then a family foursome the following day…. Lol.
You know the DM wanted to position nastyass, geriatric loving Carolyn Graham where she could shout out to Meghan on camera “I’ve been with your father… Why won’t you allow him to see his grandkids?” or some other such nonsense. Foiled!